


From Tokyo Narita

by nakamoon



Series: Neo Intergalactic [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Space, Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, Romantic Comedy, lol this sorta became a semi star trek au by accident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-18 20:30:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14859752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakamoon/pseuds/nakamoon
Summary: To Lee Taeyong, everything is dull. What is there to live for when he’s lived it all? But the boy with the luminescent blush and ugly retro jackets may be the oddest thing he’s seen in centuries.  Moon Taeil is definitely more than meets the eye.(taeil’s an alien; taeyong is the vampire who likes the way he blushes. space au.)





	From Tokyo Narita

**Author's Note:**

> hi, everyone! after almost dying over it, i've finished this 30k space au that pretty much just started out as a simple 10k au that got out of hand.
> 
> anyways, as always, i wanna thank my amazing beta [sam!](https://twitter.com/rimminq) ugh, the most trusty beta i could ask for! as well as [mel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckhei/pseuds/hyuckhei)  
> for hyping me up all the time (blood popsicles were included~), [sana](https://twitter.com/kngsniel) for being a great cheerleader (all the tentacles references are 4 u)! [erin](https://twitter.com/10softbot), who suffered along with me lmao, and just about everyone on twitter who had to hear me rant and complain about the "alien fic". i'm sorry there's no actual bloodplay or tentacles but i hope you'll still enjoy it all the same! also, happy birthday to our fullsun, donghyuck!
> 
> \- maybe listen to ["the last of the real ones"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7yNgfS8tq0) by fob! i listened to it so much while writing this fic
> 
> \- title is a reference to the tokyo narita international airport in japan!

 

 

☽

Taeyong opens his eyes and all he sees is darkness. It’s always like this, it’s been like it for years.

He can feel the absence of light seep into his skin as he lays on the bed, the body next to him unmoving. He looks to the window on his right, takes a peek at the streets below him through the cracks of the grimy coulisse. A faraway siren echoes through the empty streets and the luminescent city lights can be seen from a distance, where Tokyo—the _good part_ of Tokyo—is still bustling with life.

It looks like nighttime, but Taeyong’s circadian rhythm is a thing to behold, he knows it’s 10 am. It’s 10 am and the sun hasn’t risen.

With a soundless sigh he heaves himself up from the bed, leaving the scratchy bedsheets behind and revealing a pale torso. There’s a sticky, dried up liquid on the corner of his mouth and Taeyong grunts before scrubbing it off with a rough hand. A coppery smell, sweet and invigorating, fills his nostrils and he can’t help but recall the events of the night before. He looks back one last time at the nameless, clothless woman on his bed, still sound asleep; the same dry liquid adorns her neck.

Taeyong looks for the clothes tossed carelessly to the floor the night before. He dresses quickly and silently, not even the squeak of his boots louder than a mouse. He does not dwell on the fact that he’s leaving this woman behind, no names exchanged, no promises of seeing each other again. At this point Taeyong has lost count how many times he’s done this before.

He doesn't look back even once as he closes the door behind him. The air is chilly and the streets are wet from the fresh rain that fell into the early hours of the morning. There's no sun to be seen, only small, starry dots that decorate the stark morning sky. He looks upwards with a slight tinge of sadness. A human wouldn't care—a human wouldn't _know_ how to miss the sun.

Centuries ago that would've been laughable: a vampire missing the sun. But oh, Taeyong knows very well how fate and destiny love to play with the ironies of life.

His boots hit the wet pavement in resonance, there seems to be no one outside, a weird feat: Tokyo never sleeps. Taeyong quickens his pace and, without even thinking about it, makes his way through the nooks and crannies of the outer Tokyo district, Shio. He knows those narrow streets like the back of his hand. He might not live there anymore, instead living in the more lavish and expensive district of Kokdo, but he remembers the time when he used to live there a few decades ago. Not much has changed except the usual deterioration by age and the new drones serving as police floating around the streets once in awhile. But even those seem to stop little of the high crime rate of Shio.

With one last turn, Taeyong finds himself in the middle of one of the busiest streets of Kokdo. The sun may not shine upon them anymore, but that doesn't mean that the neon colored billboards and blinding light streets of Tokyo have gone anywhere.

He passes a little pastry shop he’s been in many times before, it’s open, as expected, but he doesn’t bother going in even if the wafting aroma of pâtisserie seduces his nostrils. Right now all he wants to is get home and take a shower. He sniffs himself; perhaps a change of clothes would be nice as well. A half-naked girl pushes a flyer onto his face and, with a giant fake smile shouts, “FREE DRINKS!” before moving on to the couple walking a few steps behind Taeyong.

He looks at the flyer in his hands distractedly. It’s for a club he’d been at once, _The Matskoya,_ but he remembers it with disdain: the bathrooms were grimy, the music horrible, and the people clingy. He crushes the paper into a little ball before pocketing it.

Taeyong distracts himself humming under his breath while he forces himself through the swarm of people. It’s an old pop song from the last century. He doesn’t remember the original singer, but it’s one of his favorites, something that still plays on the radio from time to time. A hurried boy hits him on the shoulder by accident without apologizing or even looking back at him, but Taeyong is too used to the city’s pace and this is just an everyday occurrence.

It is when he gets to the intersection between Ki and Sodai streets, that he takes out a small artifact from his jacket’s left pocket. It’s a miniscule metal that shines with the reflection of the street lights. The newest version of the Chip ZoK.

Taeyong puts it in his right ear, almost simulating an earring, and a clear screen appears before his eyes along with a beeping noise.

“Command: I need a vehicle at my current location,” he says to no one in particular.

However, a friendly female voice replies into his ear. “Destination?”

“Home," Taeyong answers, eyes still on his white screen.

“Vehicle will arrive in 1 minute 23 seconds.”

With that, Taeyong takes out the ChipZok and pockets it again. It’s not something he uses all the time and, as he looks around to the multitude of people, he notices, not for the first time, that he might be one of the few humans around that doesn’t walk around with the artifact every second of the day.

 _Human_. If he could call himself that. He supposes he can,  _if the United Galactic Federation says so_ , he thinks with a roll of eyes.

Soon, a slick black car stops in front of Taeyong and he wordlessly gets in. The driver doesn't even spare Taeyong a glance. Not that he minds, he would rather not make small talk, he's too tired for that. It's not like he got much sleep last night.

With a sigh he recollects the events of the night before. It was feeding day. Taeyong was feeling restless, his skin was itchy and irritated, his temperature was rising by the hour and he could feel his head whirl around in dizziness. He was a fool for letting it get to that point, but sometimes going out to feed on a human was more trouble that what it was worth. He never lets it get _too_ bad, though, because when he truly goes through blood-deprivation, it is not pretty for anyone involved. Rule #1 of being a vampire and all that.

So that night he dressed himself nicely in silk and leather and went out to look for some decent blood that would satisfy his thirst.

Taeyong is pretty aware of his looks, knows he could get almost anyone with just the right look. And so he did. He went into a luxurious club with refined ladies and men with money and sniffed around for the blood that suited most his taste.  It happened to be a slim woman in red with long dark hair. She was beautiful by all standards, but Taeyong cared little about that. It was her sweet blood that made the young vampire go after her, it’d been months since he’s smelled something so delicious and every fiber in his body wanted it. It took no time for him to take her out of the club and into a ghastly motel near the outskirts of Shio. They didn't talk, they didn't ask each other's names. All Taeyong remembers about her is how good it felt when he finally bit into her neck and drank the sweet liquid. Definitely better than the orgasm he pretended to enjoy.

He’s broken out of his reverie by the driver who gives a small cough signaling him that they've arrived at his destination and that he needs to get out.

“Thanks,” Taeyong manages to say before he exits the car in half a second. He looks at the towering mansion in front of him.

It's not like in the old movies he used to watch a few centuries ago, Taeyong thinks with a fond half smile. The mansion is surrounded by a green hedge and flowery bushes, the walls are a pretty and bright white color, and the garden is decorated with a few scattered tea tables.

If anything, Lee Taeyong has great house decorating taste.

He swipes away the bright red hair that's sticking to his forehead with sweat (perhaps the leather pants weren’t a great idea). The sun might not be out, but it's still summer and Tokyo’s man-made temperatures were perfectly accurate to ones Taeyong used to know. Of course, manufactured heat and artificial light were nothing compared to the feeling of actual sunrays caressing his skin during a warm summer day.

Thinking about it won't bring it back though, Taeyong knows this better than anyone else. With fast steps that leave crunches behind, he enters his home as quick as possible. A fresh shower is all he needs right now.

☽

 

It’s not like Taeyong actually needs sleep to survive. He could go on with the rest of his seemingly immortal life without an ounce of sleep. He’d probably be very cranky all the time though. But that's besides the point because even though Taeyong may not need it, he _loves_ sleep and taking naps in the middle of the day, when he can be half dead, no pun intended. Call it his favorite pastime only second to tending to his artificial flowers.

And for that reason, somehow life finds a way to fuck with Taeyong’s tiny bit of happiness.

The loud ringing of his Chip ZoK deafens him in the middle of his nap. It's a shrill sound that makes Taeyong wanna crawl down to hell.

He groans and for a moment ponders on not answering the cursed call, but at the end decides against it. He can only think of 3 people who would call him during day hours and none are exactly the patient type.

He puts the ZoK in his ear and it automatically turns on.

“Taeyong?” a male voice calls from the other side of the line.

Taeyong knows that voice and is not one bit surprised it's him calling just when he's trying to sleep.  “Junmyeon,” he croaks, voice still dry.

“Were you asleep?” Junmyeon berates loudly through the ZoK, “Honestly, Taeyong, you aren't fully appreciating what we have now. Long gone are the days where we had to hide—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taeyong grumbles, moody with sleep, “Why are you calling me? It’s been weeks since you last checked up on me, you must want something.”

Taeyong can almost feel the pout coming from the older vampire through the ZoK’s speaker. He knows he's right.

Junmyeon sighs once before lowering his voice, “I may have a favor to ask of you, little Taeyong.” Taeyong let's that one pass even if the pet name irks him to no end; he's more curious than anything now, Junmyeon isn't someone who asks favours as much as he does them.

“I had a friend of mine visit Seoul these past few months. He's pretty nice. But uh, well, he's heading back home now and his flight departs from Tokyo Narita in a few days.”

Taeyong frowns, “And you're telling me this because…”

Junmyeon sighs, “He’d stay with me a few days longer here in Korea if possible, but I have to be in Dubai by tomorrow morning. He said that it was ok because he always wanted to visit Tokyo anyways.”

“And…” Taeyong knows exactly where this is going.

“... And I felt bad and offered him your place to stay until the day of his flight.”

“ _Junmyeon_.”

“C’mon, Taeyong! Your place is pretty big and you live there alone. Just feed him and show him around a bit and he'll be out of your face in no time! And like I said, he's super nice!”

“I don't care if he's nice,” Taeyong whines, “I’m not particularly fond of being a tourist guide, Junmyeon, what am I even gonna do?”

Junmyeon has the _audacity_ to laugh. “Don't exaggerate, Yong. Besides, he's not exactly—”

“When is he coming?” Taeyong rubs his temple and sits straight up, hair sticking upwards and face puffy.

“He should be there by tonight.”

“ _Tonight?"_

“Thank you so much, dear, I knew I could count on you. I gotta leave now and get my own suitcase done. See you soon!”

“Junmy—” he tries, but the Zok connection has been turned off.

With a heaving sigh Taeyong drops his head onto his pillow. The red strands are a mess and he’ll need to comb it later, but right now all he wants is fifteen more minutes to sleep. He doesn’t need to look at his clock to know it will be 5pm soon.

He may be undead, but he still has manners. With one last sad whimper, Taeyong gets up from his bed and puts on a shirt; he’ll rather choke than let his surprise guest find his home a mess.

In a few minutes he gets all his cleaning gear together. Sure, he could definitely let one of his expensive cleaning bots do the job, but he’s always been old fashioned and there’s nothing as cathartic as scrubbing a toilet.

Soon enough, the sweat on his brow is evident but the floors are squeaky clean, all four bathrooms are washed, all the rooms are clean and the air smells like Taeyong’s favorite flower aroma scented febreze. At least something good is coming out of housing this total stranger.

It’s not like he has anything to do anyways. He knows Junmyeon is very aware of the fact Taeyong does nothing these days, he’s wondering if Junmyeon is partly doing this because of him. Not that he needs it, Taeyong is pretty fine spending his days alone. It won’t make a difference in the long run. He’s met so many people in the past hundred years, no one’s surprising anymore, everyone’s a copy of someone he’s already met; and most importantly, no one ever stays. At least not long enough for Taeyong’s immortal self.

It’s ok, he’s got his undead friends. Like Junmyeon or Kyungsoo, even Luna. Even if they’re out there in other countries like India or France and actually enjoying life. Taeyong scoffs, he’s been to India, stayed there for 20 years during the 21st century.

Sometimes, he thinks, you just run out of things to see, to feel, to _live_. At least for a vampire.

The soft rumble of a floating car, almost interceptable to human ears, catches Taeyong’s attention. He takes a peek from his room’s window, on the second floor of his house.

A man comes out of the car, Taeyong can’t see his features very well but it seems to be a male with short dark hair. The newcomer turns around and waves at the driver before they speed off. Taeyong supposes this is Junmyeon’s friend. With a purse of lips, he walks down the stairs just in time for a clear voice to resonate throughout the whole house: “Visitor incoming.”

Taeyong doesn’t bother looking at the screen with the man’s zoomed in face, instead, he goes straight to the door and opens it in a whim.

“Hello,” is the first thing the man (boy?) in front of him says, “Are you Lee Taeyong?” he asks in accented Korean.

Taeyong stays silent for a few seconds, his eyes curiously studying the other man. He’s definitely shorter than Taeyong, his dark brown hair is slick and ends right beside the corner of his eyes. His smile is too bright and, Taeyong notices with surprise, his eyes are a clear violet color.

“Yes,” he eventually replies, blinking once, twice. “Are you Junmyeon’s friend?”

The latter nods with a silent grin. Taeyong notices all he has in his possession is a small backpack around his shoulders, no luggage. “Uh, come in,” He says, stepping aside to let the other in.

“My name’s Moon Taeil,” the man— _Taeil_ , says as he enters the house and looks around with curious glances. Taeyong still cannot tell how old Taeil is; he looks young, but so does Taeyong and he’s 425 years old; looks matter little.

“I’m Taeyong,” Taeyong says dumbly. He’s not exactly sure, but there’s something about Taeil that’s perplexing to Taeyong’s whole being; he can’t pinpoint what it is, but he’s feeling disoriented, slow, like he’s not sure what’s happening. It’s a weird feeling.

“Junmyeon mentioned it, yes,” Taeil smiles again and they walk towards the pristine living room. Before Taeyong can ask anything, however, Taeil plops atop one of the white couches with little care. “Thank you for agreeing to be my guide! Junmyeon says you love showing people around!”

Taeyong frowns at this, but it goes unnoticed by Taeil as he continues, “This is my first time coming to Tokyo, how long have you lived here?”

“55 years, more or less,” Taeyong replies, still standing up while looking down at the sitting Taeil.

“Ah! You must know the city pretty well then! And you must speak Japanese fluently too.”

Taeyong only manages to nod, the earring on his left ear dangling with his movements. It’s not like he’s shy, he's never been shy, it’s just that Taeil’s not only spewing stuff Taeyong has no idea about (damn Junmyeon), but Taeil’s voice captures his whole attention, leaving little room for his brain. It’s a very warm and clear voice.

Taeyong coughs trying to actually form a sentence. “How long will you be staying? Junmyeon didn’t mention any of that.”

Taeil looks from where’s looking at Taeyong’s unused TV remote. “Oh, I’ll only be here until Friday. My starship takes off really early in the morning.”

Starship?

“Where are you from?” Taeyong finally asks, feeling his senses coming back to him.

“Zeta Luminar of the 1st Quadrant!”

There's a deafening silence for a total of five seconds before Taeyong’s brain understands what has just been said.

“You’re an _alien?_ ” Taeyong blurts out. Was that rude? Is alien the correct term? Honestly, Taeyong is not very familiarized with political correctness when it comes to extraterrestrials.

Taeil seems nonchalant enough. “Oh? I thought Junmyeon would've told you about that.” he takes out a small bag from his pocket of what looks like pink peanuts before munching on them.

 “He—didn’t.”

Taeyong has met few aliens in his life before. Very few. He was alive when humans were unaware of their existence, and he was already undead by the time people found out. Of course, there was panic amongst humans for some time (43 years to be exact, much of which that time Taeyong spent in an isolated monk temple near the Himalayas), but now their existence has been common knowledge for perhaps a century and a half.

Travel to and from Earth is still heavily regulated, particularly to enter the planet, and definitely not all humans can afford interstellar travel. Besides, Earth isn't exactly the most popular travel destination for non-humans, especially with all the extraterrestrial discrimination and awfully slow technology. Taeyong could count the aliens he’d ever talked to on one hand.

“Where's Zeta Luminar?” he asks instead, trying not to panic over the fact that there's an alien in his house. Maybe aliens and stars were too much for an old vampire like him, who only lets the world pass him by in a rush.

“Um, the first Galactic Quadrant?” Taeil repeats as if that makes a lot of sense and Taeyong’s just a little toddler. He _knows_ what the Quadrants are, at least knows that Earth is part of the first one.

“Right.” Taeyong scratches his head. “Anyways, um, let me show you to your room.” He waits until Taeil stands up and leads him upstairs, across his own bedroom. He can feel Taeil’s curious, violet eyes scan the whole house, and suddenly Taeyong feels too self-conscious. Why didn't Junmyeon tell him he’d be housing a weird alien boy?

“I’ll leave you here so you can...unpack.” Taeyong pointedly doesn't look at Taeil’s small backpack that probably only has a single Chip ZoK and alien toothpaste or something. “You can rest too if you want, I’m sure it was a long trip.”

Taeil waves his hands dismissively, “It was awfully quick. I mean, definitely nothing compared to a trip from Autaria to Yygzar.” Taeil laughs and Taeyong doesn't understand the reference but goes along with a tight smile that probably makes him look a little like a psychopath.

“Anyways, I’ll call you when is time for dinner.” Taeyong says instead, wanting to leave the alien alone and maybe get out of there to try and collect himself.

Truth be told, Taeyong feels out of his element, he doesn't know where he stands, doesn't know how or what to do and needless to say, it's a feeling he hasn't felt in a while.

“Ok, Lee Taeyong, see you at dinner time.” Taeil smiles one last time before the door closes.

 

☽

 

_what do people from zeta luminar eat?_

Taeyong frantically types into his Chip ZoK and instantly thousands of Naver pages pop up. He browses through a few of them but it ends up being futile. The articles and web pages only list weird foods that Taeyong is sure he can't even pronounce, let alone have in his very earthling kitchen. The prospect of only needing human blood for survival is very appealing at times like this.

He sighs. What if he gives Taeil something he can't eat? What if his weird alien stomach can't process carrots or something and ends up killing Taeil? Or worse, what if he ends up barfing all over Taeyong’s newly cleaned carpet?

He's starting to decide aliens are more trouble than they're worth.

He could just go upstairs and ask Taeil, but to be honest, Taeyong’s still feeling dizzy from whatever it is that Taeil’s galactic aura did to him and he sure doesn't wanna experience it again anytime soon. He'll settle on spaghetti. All Beings must like spaghetti, right?

And that's how he ends up with Moon Taeil sitting right opposite of him, giant plate of spaghetti and tomato sauce in front of him.

“Oh? Spoggetti?” Taeil says with an o-shaped mouth. He then proceeds to sniff it. Taeyong’s going to go ahead and lie and say he isn't nervous.

“Spaghetti,” he corrects, “It's pretty popular here on earth. Have you tried it before?” He makes a show of taking his metal fork and wrapping the strands of noodles around it before eating a mouthful.

Taeil thinks for a moment before replying, “I saw it on an human movie once. It seemed fun. It looks like korean ramyeon, does it taste the same?” he tries doing the same with his noodles as Taeyong did. He doesn't exactly fail, but it's sloppy and maybe oddly endearing, Taeyong hides a smile by slurping down more pasta.

“Kinda,” he says in between bites, “Try it, it’ll—wait!” he exclaims just as Taeil is about to take a bite out of a sauce-covered meatball. “You're not...gonna explode if you eat Earth food, right? No allergies?”

“I’m not sure. We do have a history of combusting into flames if certain human chemicals reach our gastro-intestinal juice.” Taeil looks at the meatball in question and shrugs before popping it into his mouth.

Taeyong wails. He's never heard of a vampire dying at the hands of an explosion but he doesn't want to find out if it's possible. He hides his face behind his hands, as if that’ll help with anything. He opens his eyes slowly when instead of a catastrophic boom all he hears is a loud chiming laugh. It sounds like… it sounds like stars, even if Taeyong isn't exactly sure what that means.

Before dwelling on it, he frowns at the boy in front of him who only slurps a single strand of spaghetti before smiling at him.

“I’m just joking. Relax, Lee Taeyong. I’ve had plenty of human food before, I’m not gonna explode," he laughs again, “But this is really good! At least better than whatever it was Junmyeon cooked for me back in Korea.”

Taeyong smiles because at least he can agree with that, Junmyeon is an awful cook.

They sit in silence for a few more minutes, Taeyong doesn't want to be awkward but it seems Taeil doesn't mind, he's too preoccupied with successfully getting a hold of his flimsy spaghetti. At least, Taeyong _thinks_ Taeil isn't paying attention until—

“So, you're a vampire, huh?” he says before turning his head to look at him.

He hasn't had this conversation in a while because 1. he doesn't just go around talking to... anyone, really, and 2. if he does talk to someone they're usually vampires like him. Taeyong's a bit reluctant, taking his time swallowing the food instead of answering Taeil. But he supposes that if Taeil is friends with Junmyeon then it should be ok.

He nods once, cautiously, “Yes.” 

Taeil nods back, “Cool. Junmyeon’s the only vampire I’ve ever met before. Well, not anymore. I think you guys are…” he struggles to find the right word. “ _Daebak?_ ”

“Dae-bak.” Taeyong says back slowly, the korean slang, his mother tongue, rolling off his tongue easily.

He’s fine with being _daebak_. He supposes he’s fine with Taeil too.

☽

 

Taeyong has seen sakura blossoming countless of times before. He doesn't make it a thing to watch them every single year, but it's not like he can't help it, even after all these years, the trees still blossom just like they did hundreds of years ago.

It’s a pretty sight, he admits, and one of the few things he looks forward to during spring time. To Taeil, however, this is a completely new sight.

“Are you seeing this, Lee Taeyong?” he says in wonder as he takes out a small, pink polaroid camera.

Taeyong, hands in his pockets, watches bemused as Taeil takes pictures with the very antique and very human artifact. “Everything's so— _pink_.”

“Honestly, everyone out there who calls Earth the Green Planet needs to come and see this! Amazing," he laughs again, never taking his sight off the landscape.

“Careful Taeil, you're gonna—” he tries warning his companion but it's too late: the extraterrestrial bumps into a man in a suit.

“Oh.” Taeil is startled and almost drops his camera. He looks up and smiles at the stranger and, in almost perfect Japanese accent, he happily adds, “Gomenasai.”

The man only frowns and huffs before dusting off his suit and continuing on his way, but not before Taeil snaps a picture of his back with a snicker.

“Why did you take a picture of that old guy?” Taeyong slowly walks towards Taeil, who stands in the middle of the cherry road.

“So I can remember his face when I come back to Earth and eat his brains.”

Taeyong’s eyes bulge out. “Really?”

Taeil laughs once again, not taking his sight from the dark spring sky littered with stars. “Not really. I’ll leave human-flesh eating to other species. But why do you sound so surprised when you drink human blood yourself?”

“Quite the human humor you got there, _Taeil_.” Taeyong frowns instead, stressing his oddly human name.They keep on walking through the serene road, pleasantly looking at the sakura petals softly falling to the ground. There's not a lot of people, not at this morning hour, at least. Most people in the expensive Kokdo district have no business taking a lazy stroll at 9 am in the morning.

 _Taeyong_ has no business being anywhere outside of his house so early in the morning, but the night before he’d told Taeil he’d show him around a few places today before he left Earth the next day.

“Thank you, I got it from my mom.” Taeil says proudly.

“Care to elaborate?” Taeyong raises an eyebrow in question as they round a corner.

“Well...so I’m pretty sure you have never met a Zeta Luminarian before,” he starts and Taeyong shakes his head. “Our kind usually has violet skin. Some even have small horns while others sprout small wings, though those are more uncommon traits.”

Taeyong takes a surreptitious glance at Taeil’s back. No visible wings.

Taeil coughs. “I’m only _half_ Zeta Luminarian. My dad’s from there but my mom is from Earth. South Korea.”

Now it's Taeyong’s turn to look on curiously. “So you're half human?”

The other man nods with a hum, hands clasped behind his back. “Yes. I was born and raised in Z. Luminar, though. I speak their language and know their culture the most. It wasn't until a few decades ago that I started traveling here to Earth. Learn about my heritage and all that.”

No wonder his korean is pretty good, Taeyong thinks. “So you're kinda human but not entirely…”

“I’m glad you see we have more in common than you think.” Taeil winks before looking away at a nearby food stand and pulling him along.  “C’mon, let’s try more Japanese food.”

Taeyong, of course, ends up paying for all the little snacks Taeil wants to try. He learns that the other has a pitless stomach and he’s not sure if that's an alien thing or a Taeil thing.

Taeyong thinks they must look quite the pair to any onlookers. It is known that vampires could be a little extravagant when it came to certain things, including fashion; and while Taeyong doesn't go to the extremes like many of his friends, he is no exception to the rule. The tight leather pants, multiple ear piercings and bright red hair were an attest to that. In contrast, Taeil, with his violet eyes and short stature, sports the most ridiculous jacket ever. It’s an old, colorful thing that no one Earth has worn in years, making the little alien stand out.

Taeyong doesn't admit it, but he is oddly fond of the ridiculous piece of clothing, although he can't quite pinpoint the reason as to why.

He wants to go on to their next destination (a Yakatabune trip through the Sumida river), but Taeil insists on eating their street food under the Sakura trees. So that’s what they do and Taeyong doesn’t remember being such an easily influenced person but apparently that’s what he is. The grass is dewey and it will surely leave wet spots on his dark pants but the sudden thought that he hasn’t sat down like this in such a long time makes him care a little less.

“So what are you doing when you go back?” he asks with a huff, “What do you do in Zeta Luminar?” 

It seems he has taken Taeil off guard, with his mouth full of Yakitori and his cheeks stained with sauce. He takes a few more bites before swallowing. “Well, for starters, it’s a three-month trip back home. I’m boarding my friend Yuta’s spaceship. He’s making his way to Centaur II and he’ll drop me off on the way.”

" _Three months?_ Stuck in a starship?” The idea makes Taeyong queasy, no wonder humans aren’t really made for space travel, their lives would be spent in a blink.

"Ah, such young blood. For a vampire you’re not really knowledgeable about much are you?”

“I am.” Taeyong refutes. He knows _plenty_ , more than any human on earth most likely, thank you very much. “Space and alien talk has never interested me much. Earth is still pretty closed off to you and other species.”

Taeil sighs sadly, “That’s true, Earth has always been a little anti-social planet. But there’s been more and more human space adventurers as time goes by.” he continues licking the sauce off his fingers. Taeyong frowns. “You should try it, Taeyong. You complain about being stuck in a ship for three months, but I can’t see a worse fate than being stuck in one planet a whole life, especially for such a timeless creature like you.”

“I have things to do here.” he replies without thinking.

“Oh, like what?” Taeil asks innocently, but Taeyong isn’t fooled one bit. “Watering your plants?”

“Sucking blood.” he retorts hotly, showing his fangs and taking the last Yakitori from Taeil’s hands, who gasps at the loss.

“That’s mine!”

Taeyong doesn’t pay him attention; only reminiscing flashes of a warm sun and clear sky run through his mind. 

☽

 

The rest of the day is spent in slow boats across the main rivers of the city. And like always, Tokyo never sleeps: all throughout the day, not only do the stars shine glaringly above them but the building’s ever present lights do as well. Somehow that's not a problem, and Taeyong realizes he's more interested in his companion than any of his surroundings.

Taeil proves himself to be far more interesting than any of the humans Taeyong has met in the past hundred years. Guess it comes with the fact that he’s an alien and Taeyong only ever meets humans to suck the holy blood out of them nowadays, but the sentiment is the same.

“So the Tryfax,” Taeil starts, wild hand movements and all, “hands me the Penta and tells me to keep it. _Just like that_.” He wails dramatically and Taeyong can't help but chortle out an ungraceful laugh.

They're on a small and expensive Yakatabune that serves them sushi on deck while they look on at the bright landscape. Taeil seems to love it so Taeyong considers he must not be such a bad tourist guide like he had originally feared. “How does a Tryfax look like?” he asks in curiosity, unaware of the soft smile Taeil gives him back.

“Tryfax are… well they're kind of hard to describe. First of all, they're not from our Quadrant, they're from the Second Quadrant.”

Taeyong raises an eyebrow in question. He’s not entirely clueless, but there's so many species, so many planets; it's hard to keep up.

“First Quadrant species are easy to identify. They all mostly resemble what you come to know as a human. Biped, two arms, maybe an extra eye or two but roughly the same genetics.” Taeil hums and nods drawing invisible stick figures on the clothed table. “Species from the second and third Quadrants are hard to categorize since they’re all so different, even from each other.”

“So, Za'ha'kergi from the Second Quadrant roughly look like a 3 feet gelatin—quite nice species, actually. While a Tryfax, who are just in the next solar system, are 8 feet in average, have the head of a fish and have around 20 tentacles.” Taeil finishes proudly.

Surely he is making this up, Taeyong thinks, there’s no way Taeil’s telling the truth. But the other man just smiles back at him and Taeyong might be a fool, but he believes every word he says. “So you’re telling me you dated an 8 foot fish?” he asks instead, munching the last piece of sushi on his plate a tad aggressively.

“Hey!” Taeil splutters, choking a little bit on his water, “First of all, we did _not_ date. Second of all, Tryfax aren’t fish, don’t be rude!”

“How did that even work? He was 8 feet and you’re...tiny.”

Taeil sniffs in indignation,“I’m not tiny! I’m a perfectly sized species and he said I had pretty eyes, ok?”

“Ok, ok,” he laughs back and raises his hand in mock surrender. “Sorry for offending your boyfriend, Taeil.”

“He wasn’t my boyfriend.” Taeil frowns, shredding the napkin in front of him unconsciously, “The Tryfax don’t date, they just mate, I guess. It was a no from me.”

“It’s ok, I bet the tentacles were nice.”

Taeil sighs. “They were.”

The boat passes through a long stretch just beside the Shio district, where Taeyong had been in only a day ago. There’s a stark contrast between the Kokdo district, an explosion of lights and sounds, and Shio, where the buildings are less costly and mundane and the streets have half the lights the latter has.

“Shio is a depressing sight,” Taeyong says, “Kokdo may be fancy and expensive, but the reality is that all other districts that surround Tokyo are nothing compared to it.”

“Do Sakura trees also blossom in those districts?” Taeil asks, head tilted.

“Yes, all of Japan gets a little bit of Sakura.”

“Then it’s not that bad, Lee Taeyong,” Taeil looks up at the sky, finger pointing upwards. “Kokdo doesn’t have these stars.”

Taeyong follows his sight and the sky that greets him makes him a little breathless. The large expanse is as dark as he remembers, but now it’s covered in minute platinum dots. Hundreds of them, endless. There’s a feeling in his stomach and Taeyong doesn’t know what it is, all he knows is that there’s a whole universe out there and Taeil seems to love it.

He’s about to voice this, maybe ask another question, but as he looks back at his companion, who is still marvelling at the night sky, Taeyong is hit with yet another sight. It is then that he notices Taeil’s skin is glowing. It’s a slight silvery glow that dusts his face, his hands; the glow becomes a little thicker, in thin small lines, like rivulets, where his cheeks and knuckles are. He’s too focused gaping that he doesn’t notice violet eyes staring back at him.

“Is there something wrong?” Taeil frowns, “What are you looking at?”

Taeyong is broken out of his reverie and replies too quickly, “You’re glowing.”

The other man is taken aback and, after a few silent seconds, his cheeks seem to glow even more, and this time, his ears do as well.

“It’s...it’s my blood.” Taeil coughs, “It’s usually not noticeable in places with light, but when it’s dark enough you can see my veins light up. All of us Z. Luminarians are like this.”

“You light up.” Taeyong repeats, still trying to process it.

“Yes.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Perhaps Taeyong’s too dumb to notice that Taeil’s glow lights up even brighter after that.

☽

 

That night Taeyong dreams of abyss. Of a dark sky full of white burning stars and he keeps falling, falling with no direction. He isn’t screaming, he isn’t scared and that, somehow, is the weirdest part.

The dark space soon turns to pinks and purple hues and he doesn’t stop falling but everything seems to move in retrograde. He nears a bright star and Taeyong can feel his skin ablaze, hot, hot but he still doesn’t panic. It’s a good kind of fire, whatever that may be, and all he wants is to get near the star and collide against it and take a year-long long nap.

But he keeps on moving, leaving the star behind. He faces a glowing orb floating in the middle of space and Taeyong finally stops moving, stays static in front of the small orb. His fingers are itching to touch it but it doesn’t seem like a good idea, even to Taeyong’s state of dreaming. He doesn’t have to though. At first he thinks it’s just in his head, that the orb’s glow is getting brighter, but soon enough he realizes that’s exactly what’s happening. He ought to leave, he thinks, he doesn’t want to get caught in whatever it is that’s about to happen but. He stays there, glued in front of the burning ball, like a moth to a flame. And suddenly.

Suddenly it’s all an inferno of flames and light and he screams and cries until his throat is raw and aching and somehow, he’s never felt more alive.

☽

 

“He should be here any moment now.” Taeil scrunches up his eyebrows looking at the time on his Chip ZoK. “Unless he forgot. Which shouldn’t be surprising considering it’s Yuta.”

Taeyong nods as he holds Taeil’s single backpack in one hand, looking around the spaceport. He’s certainly able to tell they’re currently in South East Asia’s biggest port, Tokyo Narita Intergalactic Spaceport, a neighbor to the infinitely smaller airport by the same name. Everything seems to bustle with life, thousands of people are walking around, trying to catch flights or resting in the waiting rooms surrounded by crystal walls and modern automatic doors. This is a whole new world for Taeyong and he’s been living so close to it for years now. He tries to catch glimpses of any non-humans around but it seems futile, Taeil was right when he said not many species come to earth for unofficial visits.  

“So um, is your friend Yuta also a Zeta Luminarian?” Taeyong asks instead, trying to imagine another Taeil-like person with the same violet clear eyes.

Taeil laughs finally taking his eyes off the ZoK. “He lived in Japan for many years before becoming a starship pilot, but Yuta is actually from a planet a little closer to Earth than my own, Pentelix-RX. The Pentelixians are more alike to humans than anyone else,” Taeil ponders for a second, “maybe only behind the Trostruran people who are practically a carbon copy of you but with hidden gills behind their ears.”

“They can breathe underwater?” the vampire exclaims, almost dropping Taeil’s light backpack.

“That’s pretty tame,” Taeil smirks playfully, “I can swim in lava.”

“You’re joking, right?” Taeyong asks flabbergasted. He doesn’t know why anyone would need to _swim_ in lava, but the thought of Taeil doing it makes him seem at least a little bit cool.

Taeil snorts, “I am. There’s no lava in Z. Luminar, Taeyong don’t be silly.”

Taeyong huffs in response, “I’m gonna believe only half of what you say from now on.”

Taeil’s eyes seem to shine in mirth, but before Taeyong can reply with more banter, a shout is heard from the crowd along with a waving arm.

“Taeil!” the voice calls.

“Yuta?” the shorter boy is startled.

He closes his eyes for a moment, hand in front of him as if trying to feel something, before opening his eyes again and turning to his right, “Come on, Taeyong.” he says.

Taeil takes his hand and leads him amongst the busy crowd where a lithe boy is being dragged away by the people walking against his direction and not sparing him a thought. “You’d think that living on Earth for such a long time would make him used to humans and their awful walking etiquette.” Taeil comments nonchalantly observing Yuta trying to break free from the crowd.

“Should...should I help him?” Taeyong wonders out loud before Taeil shakes his head and adds stoically, “It’d be funny if he dies being stamped over.”

It’s a full minute before the newcomer is able to make it to where they are. He’s taller than Taeyong and Taeil, but not by much, his skin looks more along the lines of Taeyong’s rather than Taeil’s slightly shimmery one, but his eyes are bigger than what Taeyong is used to. Not to unnatural proportions, but still dark and pretty and a little mesmerizing. Like many other pilots around the spaceport, Yuta is wearing a dark blue and neon orange jumpsuit with the Intergalactic Federation logo embroidered on it, but what catches Taeyong’s attention the most, is the alien’s bright smile, unwavering. He must be happy reuniting with his friend, Taeyong guesses.

“You really left me to die, you cockroach.” Yuta says as a greeting.

“I believed in your survival skills, it is very different.” Taeil counters before being dragged into a crushing hug.

“How are you Moon Taeil?” Yuta says into the hug while Taeil has to tiptoe a bit to reach the other's shoulder comfortably.

“Vacations are always good for the soul.”

“Agh, ZedLus always with their blabbering spirituality.” Yuta rolls his eyes before finally noticing Taeyong, who only watches on with what he hopes to be a friendly smile. He’s failing. “And who’s this? Is this your vampire friend?”

“Yes!” Taeil smiles as Taeyong gives a small wave. For a blood-sucking vampire who dresses in all black, Taeyong is not very intimidating. “This is _Lee_ _Tae Yong._  He’s a vampire and he's—”

“—cute! He’s cute!” Yuta finishes off for him.

“I told you to not use your—”

“I didn't.” he smirks before walking over to Taeyong, enveloping him in a hug just like he did with his friend and ignoring Taeil’s sudden glow.

“Nice meeting you Taeyong, I’m Nakamoto Yuta and us Pentelixians are very touchy so please respect my culture and let me touch you.”

Taeyong is speechless for a second before tentatively patting Yuta back. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Yuta!” Taeil whines from behind him. “I can smell your ugly Pentelix pheromones from here, remove yourself from Taeyong.”

Yuta grumbles, “It was a long trip with no stops, how else am I supposed to smell like?”

Yuta, still never ceasing to speak, leads Taeyong and Taeil throughout the Spaceport’s aisles, all brimming with busy people. Taeil seems to catch on to every word the other alien is spewing with excited grins and verbal exclamation points. On the other hand, Taeyong is not only preoccupied with trying not bumping into everyone in his immediate surroundings, but his mind is whirring at the memory of last night’s dreams, too distracted to pay attention to Yuta.

Did he know what his dream meant? Of course not, Taeyong’s head starts pulsating in pain at the mere thought of his lucid dream, it was too vivid and confusing for his poor human brain. Had maybe Taeil slipped some sort of weird alien drug into his Takoyaki last night?

Still, there’s a bubbling sensation in the pit of his stomach and somehow, Taeyong’s hands tremble holding on to Taeil’s backpack.

“Taeyong?” Taeil slows his own pace, letting Taeyong catch up to him and leaving a still talking and unknowing Yuta walk ahead of them. “Are you alright?”

Taeyong blinks and gives a tentative nod before pointing towards Yuta. “He’s nice, isn’t he?”

“He’s a pain in the ass, more like,” Taeil rolls his eyes, “But I guess he’s a decent pilot.”

“Then I shouldn’t be worried about your starship crashing, right?”

Yuta stops in front of a metal oval-shaped capsule labeled Private Port 7582. Taeyong has no idea how this works but he can only imagine this will take Taeil and Yuta inside their starship. Maybe catapult them into space, who knows.

“I’ll go get my ticket scanned, Taeil,” Yuta looks at them before coughing, “Um, be quick and take your pill before I bring the Port Guard.”

Taeyong is half confused about it all, but he supposes there’s not much time to ask. Maybe next time. But for the first time, Taeyong realizes he doesn’t know if there’ll be a next time with Taeil. The thought is oddly saddening and he has no idea what to make of it.

He scratches the back of his head as he faces Taeil. “I... hope you enjoyed your first visit to Tokyo.”

“I did.” Taeil smiles back knowingly, the specks of luminescent glow looking like smalls freckles across his cheeks and nose.

“I wasn’t a very good guide—”

“You were the best guide, Lee Taeyong.”

It’s a myth vampires can’t blush. Taeil learns it right in that very moment.

Taeil smiles softly at him and Taeyong knows what he’s gonna say next. At least, he thinks so. “Taeyong, do you—”

The jacket. Taeil’s weird pastel jacket that he hasn’t taken off since Taeyong first saw him. It’s weird and so out-of-place and Taeyong finally knows why he likes it so much. It’s from the 1990s: from the decade Taeyong was born. Back when he was a human, so many centuries ago, back when everything was still so new to him. And there Taeil is, wearing it amongst the thousands of humans wearing newer, fancier clothes, just because he likes it. His dead heart swells at the thought. Maybe he’s remembering how it felt back then, to be excited and to learn new things.

“—want to come with me?”

The neon lights from metropolis Tokyo can still be seen from the giant crystal windows next to them. Taeyong sighs at the sight; it’s a very pretty city, he’s never not thought that once.

“Does the sun still shine in Zeta Luminar?”

Taeil laughs, the crinkles by his eyes appearing like crescent moons, “We have three suns, Lee Taeyong, and you’ll love each and every single one of them.”

Memories of sunlight flash through his mind and right now Taeyong wants nothing else.

“Okay.”

He doesn’t know if he’ll regret this later, he absolutely knows next to nothing about space and Taeil _is_ technically still a stranger. This could be very dangerous. But Taeil’s excited grin is nothing short of a promise of new sensations, of new experiences, and Taeyong be damned if he hasn’t waited for this opportunity  for years.

“Swallow this.” Taeil says pointedly before staring at something behind Taeyong’s back. He hands him a small, round and yellow pill. He has no idea what it is but Taeil’s voice is urgent and so Taeyong does as he is told. Taeil takes a similar pill as well before dragging him behind a white pillar near the metal capsule. He watches as Yuta arrives with an officer in tow. Yuta is all smiles and conversation, but Taeyong can see the surreptitious glances he throws at his surroundings. Next to him, he hears Taeil give a small chuckle before, to Taeyong’s horror, the latter starts vanishing into thin air.

“T-Taeil? What’s happening?” he whispers frantically, “Where are you?”

He half expects silence as an answer, but to his surprise, Taeil’s voice is still coming from the same location near his ear, he can feel his hot breath nearby. “Look at yourself.”

Before questioning the other man, Taeyong looks down at his hands and he wants to throw up. He isn’t there. He can feel and move his hands like he normally would, but he just doesn’t see anything in front of him. Taeyong has vanished.

“What happened?” he croaks frenziedly looking to his companion for an answer. Of course, he doesn’t see anything. “Taeil?”

Instead, he feels Taeil’s warm grasp on his own arm. It’s slightly reassuring and suddenly his nerves calm down. He wonder if this is one of Taeil’s Z. Luminarian powers.

“It’s ok, just follow my lead.” Taeils whispers back, still eyeing Yuta and the Galactic officer who seems to be scanning Yuta’s ticket.

Soon enough, the doors to the Port Capsule open up with a _bing!_ and Yuta says farewell to the officer with a cheerful smile.

“Thank you, Officer Sawamura! I’ll make sure to visit Earth sometime again soon!” he says loudly before dropping his ticket to the floor. “Oops, silly me.”

“C’mon, Taeyong.” Taeil whispers, still holding onto him, before walking towards the doors and walking past Yuta. Taeyong is panicking, looking at the officer and expecting him to stop them any moment now. However, he pays them no mind, instead he looks at Yuta forlornly as he picks up his ticket.

“Ok, well I’m going now.” Yuta smiles and quickly passes through the capsule’s door. A green light is lit as as Yuta walks through, Taeyong notes, unlike with Taeil and himself. They stand near the edge in silence not moving a single muscle, just in front of the still visible Yuta, before the door closes.

Taeyong doesn’t know if it’s yet safe to talk out loud, but before he can ponder about it, the capsule moves forward in such speed, Taeyong almost falls face flat onto the floor.

“Hold on to the railing!” Taeil laughs. Taeyong can’t see his face but he’s sure Taeil has that same smile he had on when he tasted Yakitori for the first time.  

How lucky, he thinks, all Taeyong can think about right now is to not fall and throw up all over the small capsule. He wonders if his vomit would be invisible too.

After a few agonizing minutes the capsule stops dead. Taeyong catches his breath, feeling dizzy and light-headed. He hasn’t even stepped into the spaceship and he’s already regretting this.

“What just happened?” he manages to say, his eye sight adjusting to a non-whirring space.

“You took one of Taeil’s infamous invisible pills.” Yuta grins. Taeyong is grateful for the fact he can actually see him. “You not only go unnoticed by any species’ eyes, but by any machine trying to detect life. Pretty neat, huh?”

“I’m already dead, there’s no life to detect.” Taeyong grumbles, still feeling his breakfast of muesli and toast trying to come up his esophagus.

Taeil _tsks_ next to him before adding, “It’s not like it’s any hard to go unnoticed by Earth technology. Seriously, you guys need to catch up with the rest of the Galaxy.”

“Wait, are you saying we just illegally boarded a spaceship?” Taeyong exclaims, “Are we criminals?”

“We’re not criminals if they don’t have us on records.” Taeil, still invisible, huffs out.

Before Taeyong can retort, the other side of the capsule opens up, revealing a long and narrow tube surrounded by transparent walls.

“This leads to the ship, c’mon Mr. Dead.” Yuta tries to pat his back but misses and ends up awkwardly tapping near his neck.

When Taeil had told him his friend Yuta would pick him up in his private starship, Taeyong had no idea what to expect. After all, he’d never ever seen an actual real life starship before. But when he said _private starship_ , Taeyong had imagined something along the lines of a _flying yacht_ or a jet or almost anything opposite to the enormous monster of a ship he can see through the crystal tube.

It’s quite literally something out of a sci-fi movie. It’s like…the Titanic but in space.

“That’s—”

“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Yuta grins as he walks beside him, “She’s my pride and joy. We call her the NCT-X0.”

The walk along the narrow tube is longer than Taeyong had expected, he can only imagine how big Tokyo Narita actually is.

“Just so you know, Taeyong, that capsule was nothing compared to how Lightspeed to Space feels like.” Taeil says from the other side next to him. “I can knock you out if you want, though.”

However tempting, Taeyong declines, “I’ll just…close my eyes and imagine it’s a rollercoaster. Hope you don’t mind me throwing up.”

Taeil laughs, “I won’t but—”

“I will. If you throw up you get thrown out into space.” Yuta butts in with a sniff.

They stop before the metal doors and Yuta walks forward, letting a green light scan his whole body.

“Welcome aboard, Captain Nakamoto.” A soft voice, not unlike Taeyong’s Chip ZoK, says.

With that, the door glides open and Taeyong can only watch in wonder. It’s a new world, after all.

☽

 

“You must be Taeil’s…uh...” A cheerful boy stands in front of Taeyong, he sports bright ginger hair and a wide smile that could only rival Yuta’s. Taeyong tries not to stare at the boy’s set of pointy ears, both of them decorated with flashy jewelry.

_Taeil’s what?_

“Taeyong.” He replies quickly instead.

“Yes! Taeil’s Taeyong!” the boy replies excitedly. Taeyong frowns, that’s not exactly what he had in mind but he lets it go. “I’m Jaemin from Pentelix!”

“Hi Jaemin, I’m from…Earth.”

Jaemin smiles brightly at him and Taeyong wonders if smiling so cheerfully is an alien thing. “Taeil and Yuta are busy right now, so they asked me to show you the kitchens so I can make you something to eat.”

Taeyong hasn’t eaten anything since that very morning, way before he even knew he’d be riding a ship into space. He probably should’ve thought about the types of alien food he’d be forced to eat here.

“I don’t eat.” He says instead, too scared of whatever it is aliens feed on. Tentacles, green slime…he can only imagine.

“Don’t be silly, as Main Chef of the NCT-X0 my job is to feed every mouth in this ship.” Jaemin chastises before taking ahold of Taeyong and dragging him out of his newly appointed room.

Not long before arriving, Yuta had gone straight to the Control Panel to start up the ship and Taeil had taken Taeyong to the living quarters. He hadn’t said much on his way there, Taeil could probably sense how nervous Taeyong was about the whole ordeal. He showed him to one of the rooms, the one just in front of Taeil’s own, and had slipped him another pill, this time a pink one.

Taeyong had looked at it suspiciously before Taeil laughed and said, “It’s a sleeping pill, should make you sleepy in less than 10 minutes and you’ll wake up in an hour. Long enough for you to miss out on Lightspeed Travel.”

Taeyong had taken it gratefully and before he knew it, he was fast asleep. That is, until a certain smiling ginger knocked on his door and woke him up.

“You know, your room is so much nicer than mine.” Jaemin says amicably as he leads him out of the hallway. He pouts. “Mine is smaller. You’d think being the Captain’s brother would have its perks, but he’s too mean to me.”

“Brother?” Taeyong inquires, “Yuta is your brother?”

“Sadly so! And I’m stuck in the second floor rooms with Jeno and Renjun.”

Maybe the giant smile should’ve been foretelling, Taeyong supposes. It’s a good look. He wonders if all aliens are good-looking, as it seems to be the case.

“I take it the rooms on the first floor are nicer, then?”

Jaemin nods, “Yes, those are usually reserved for officers and high-ranking officials. Of course, right now most of them are empty.”

High-ranking officials? Taeyong’s just a stray vampire that fed Taeil a plate of spaghetti once. “Should I…should I move to the second floor? I’m only a guest after all.”

Jaemin laughs, “Of course not! Taeil and Yuta put you there.” He sighs, “Maybe I should date a Captain. I wonder if—”

“Jaemin!” A new voice surprises them both. “Having fun?”

Both of them turn around and face the newcomer. It’s another boy. This one sports a white overall over an orange shirt; his stark hair is tousled and there seems to be grease stains all over his clothes and face. Unlike Jaemin’s pointed ears or Taeil’s violet eyes, this boy looks no different than an average human.

“I am,” Jaemin crosses his arms with a purse of lips, “Have you met Taeyong?”

“I haven’t.” the other boy looks at Jaemin reproachfully for a few more seconds before turning to Taeyong and his whole demeanor changes. The prettiest eye smile Taeyong has ever seen appears on his face. “I’m Jeno.”

Before Taeyong has time to greet back, Jeno surges forward and boops his nose with his own. Taeyong doesn't know how to feel about it all.

“Jeno!” Jaemin hisses next to them. “He’s from Earth. You’re probably the first Yyzgardian he’s ever met. Way to freak him out.”

Jeno laughs and blushes. A normal, pink blush, Taeyong notices.

“It’s ok,” Taeyong smiles reassuringly, “Different cultures and all that, I understand.”

“What are you doing down here?” Jeno asks, “I thought you were supposed to be making dinner, Jaemin.”

The boy in question blows his bangs out of his face with a roll of eyes before replying, “Taeil asked me to make him something to eat. You know, some of us have duties.”

Jeno frowns and Taeyong thinks he looks like a puppy. He wonders if Jeno and Jaemin know what a puppy is. “What am I doing then? I’ve been stuck in the cryogenic room for hours, something’s wrong with the trextilator and I have no idea what it is _and_ Renjun is nowhere to be seen,” he whines. “I came here to ask you to make me a roasted Glitchen.”

“Renjun’s probably hiding and taking a nap. Look for him in the first-floor rooms.” Jaemin sighs, “I’ll make your Glitchen after I’m done with Taeyong’s food.”

After a disappointed Jeno leaves, Jaemin finally takes him to the kitchens. “Are you the only cook here? This place is huge.” Taeyong looks around the slick kitchen, not surprised anymore. It seems everything in space is big (except Moon Taeil).

“Not usually.” Jaemin shrugs, “When the ship officially operates, I have two other cooks that help me plus all the cooking bots I ask Yuta to buy me.”

“Right now though,” he pauses for a second before taking out a small metallic screen from a pantry. “It’s just me alone. Now tell me, what do you want to eat?”

Taeyong scratches his head and eyes the rest of the kitchen, he doesn’t see any actual food. “What do you know how to make?”

Jaemin splutters in indignance, “I didn’t study Galactic Gastronomy for 6 years and I didn’t specialize in Quadrant I food for you to say that to me, Taeyong.”

“C’mon, hit me with your best shot.”

The human doesn’t know what to ask, still scared for whatever alien concoction Jaemin ends up cooking, still, he doesn’t want to insult his pride. “A…sandwich?”

“Ah!” Jaemin exclaims with a nod, “The Earthling delicacy humans call a _sandwich._ Of course. Will it be a ham and cheese sandwich, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a turkey sandwich, a chicken sandwich, a—”

“Ham and cheese is fine!”

“Ham and cheese sandwich it is!” Jaemin types something into his metal screen before two small bots slide their way through the giant back doors, the storage room, as far as Taeyong can tell.

As it turns out, the sandwich is pretty damn good. He can sort of tell the ham isn’t exactly pork from Earth and he’s kind of scared to ask what it actually is, but if it’s not broken then don’t fix it, he says to himself. Other than that, he truly enjoys the sandwich and the gleaming, proud smile on Jaemin’s face is another plus too.

“I won’t doubt your cooking skills ever again Jaemin,” he says in between muches, “You’re great.”

“Maybe next time we can have Jaemin cook Spoggetti for everyone.” Taeil walks through the kitchen doors as Taeyong is done eating his sandwich. He doesn’t correct the shorter man.

“Ooh! You got it, Taeil!” Jaemin jumps excitedly, “Finally my cooking skills are being put to the test. No more boring Glitchens for Jeno and Renjun.”

“Have you seen Renjun, by the way?” the older alien asks in curiosity, “Jeno was looking for him.”

Jaemin shakes his head, “Probably taking a nap or something.”

Taeil hums, “That’s a shame. I came here to ask Taeyong to come to the Bridge with me, you can come too if you want, Jaemin.”

“I have to make Jeno’s Glitchen since the poor _kod_ was starving,” he sighs, “Go ahead without me, I’ll catch up.”

The Luminarian nods before staring expectantly at Taeyong with a smile, “Wanna come?”

He nods without being told twice, he’s quite curious as to where Taeil and Yuta have been in all this time. He still hasn’t seen much of the ship save the first floor rooms and the kitchen. He did catch a glimpse of a small living room, but not much past the living quarters.

He follows Taeil as the latter leads him out the kitchens, through a hallway opposite where Jaemin and him came from. They walk a short flight of stairs back up to the first floor, but this time they head towards the West Wing, where the Bridge and all the Important rooms are located.

“Jaemin mentioned that the ship isn’t operating right now,” Taeyong hums as he looks around the dark and too silent hallway, “What…type of ship is it?”

Taeil’s cheeks puff up with air for a few moments before sighing. “The NCT-X0…it’s a uh, a ship made for Space Exploration.”

“What does that even mean?” Taeyong frowns, he understands virtually half of what Taeil says but this is pushing it even more.

“It’s part of the United Galactic Federation Fleet. Exploration Unit, to be exact.”

“And Yuta’s the _captain_?” he asks incredulous.

“Kind of.”

“Taeil.”

The alien sighs, suddenly sheepish as he scratches his neck, “He’s one of three rotating captains. I happen to be another one.”

Taeyong looks on incredulous, quickening his pace and walking just in front of his companion, effectively stopping him. “ _You’re_ a captain too?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Taeil pouts.

“You couldn’t even stop soy sauce from dripping all over your chin yesterday.” Taeyong replies, questioning how the small little alien in pink sweaters standing in front of him could be captain of an entire Federation Starship.

“I may not be the best human out there—” Taeil starts before stuttering, “—or the best Luminarian either, I guess. But I was one of the best pilots at Fleet Academy. And soy sauce is the _worst_.”

“You’re telling me you illegally infiltrated your own spaceship?” Taeyong questions, single eyebrow raised, “Aren’t you supposed to be a lawful officer of the Galaxy?”

“Lawful? I just explore planets.” Taeil grins and sticks out his tongue, “ _And_ technically I’m on vacation. No Captain Taeil for now.”

Taeyong sighs one last time. “I can’t believe I housed a member of the Federation. I can’t believe an official member of the Federation _saw_ me in my cat pajamas.” He groans and covers his face with his hands, embarrassed.

“If it makes you feel better…you saw an official member of the Federation in his One Punch Man 3000X pajamas.” Taeil laughs before sobering up and adding softly, “Um. Sorry for not telling you before. I didn’t think it was important. Back on Earth I’m just a clueless half-human that wanted to see Tokyo.”

“And here?” Taeyong asks, hooded eyes peeking from beneath his bright red hair.

Taeil doesn’t reply for a moment, Taeyong even starts thinking he won’t answer him at all but then—

“In space I’m just a clueless half-human that wants to see stars.” He smiles at Taeyong, inching a little closer to the other boy. The dark hallway seems to highlight the veins running across Taeil’s skin, especially across his neck, the pumping blood—

“Are you gonna come in or not?” Yuta walks past them with a snicker, “We don’t have all day, Mr. Glow-in-the-Dark.”

Taeil frowns before clearing his throat, “Glow in the dark?” He takes Taeyong’s arm and they both walk only a few paces behind Yuta.

Taeyong realizes his heart is beating faster than its usual intrinsically slow beat. God, he's supposed to be dead.

The Bridge is smaller than Taeyong imagined, which makes it a first one. It’s still slick with technology, even more so than the kitchen and his own room. It’s a round room with various screens all across the walls and multiple consoles with even more buttons, some blinking, some off. Taeyong wouldn’t even know where to start looking, let alone actually use it. The thought of Taeil being able to smoothly pilot it definitely impresses Taeyong.

“What are these other seats for?” he asks, pointing to all the multiple chairs surrounding the consoles.

“Officers.” Yuta explains spinning around in his own captain chair, “When the ship is on active duty, we have to follow strict Federation protocol. That means the ship has to be monitored by like, 6 other dudes.” He sighs before standing up, “Since we’re just leisure traveling right now though, a single certified Pilot is all we need. That means me, Captain Yuta.” he grins proudly.

“Taeyong,” Taeil calls out from the other side of the room, “Look, I want to show you something.”

Taeyong walks next to Taeil, who hovers his hand above a single innocuous black button before pressing it. In instants, the metal wall right in front of them starts sliding up and for a moment, Taeyong thinks they’re gonna be sucked into space before he realizes there’s a giant crystal clear window in place of the wall.

And then it dawns on him. It’s space. It’s a dark expanse and it’s full of a thousand white dots and Taeyong feels so infinitesimal, he might want to cry. It’s truly the most astounding thing he’s ever seen.

Oh, he laughs at himself. How dare vampires think they know everything? They’re only small creatures in this expanding universe, specks of tiny dust that know nothing but the taste of blood and loneliness.

He can feel Taeil’s eyes on him and Taeyong realizes he’s staring on with his mouth wide open like a fool. He closes it before looking back at Taeil and says, “I get why you like stars so much.”

“You’ll like it where we’re going next then,” Taeil replies looking down at the series of red and yellow buttons. “Our next stop is Taizen, it is famous for its surrounding blue stars and really cheap combustible. Jeno loves it there.”

“We’ll make two stops before arriving to Zed Luminar,” Yuta approaches them, “Taizen’s the first one. Then Borsnit 14, which is only a few zenters away from Taeil’s planet.”

Taeyong nods before looking at all the buttons and monitors. He ponders. “Is it hard? Piloting a starship, I mean.”

“They make you think it is,” Yuta whispers conspiratorially, “The piloting is the easy part. But then the Fleet Academy makes you take all these useless classes like Xitrology and History of the Galactic Federation. _Bleh_. And most of the students are assholes. Right, Taeil?”

“Right.” Taeil rolls his eyes. “Yuta here was one of the worst until we became friends.”

“Hey! That’s not true,” he exclaims, “I was a kind—”

“I always thought you were intimidated by the fact I’d end up getting the highest graduating score and not you.”

“Yeah, well look how _that_ turned out.”

“Did Yuta get it?” Taeyong curiously asks looking between the two Captains.

“No.” Taeil waves his hands dismissively. “Of course not.”

“Oh. Then who—”

“Doyoung.” They say in unison, eyebrows furrowed.

Taeil coughs before looking away, “Anyways, piloting isn’t that hard. But you…have to take responsibility and care for all your crew. I think that’s the toughest part.”

Yuta nods, “And like, sometimes you have to give orders that might get you killed by Kloxus or meteors, but other than that the pay is great.” Taeil agrees with him.

“This why neither of you are my favorite Captain.” A muffled voice is heard from under the Navigation console. Taeyong half thinks it has a talking sentinel voice of its own before a skinny and frail boy crawls out from underneath.

“Renjun!” Taeil shouts, “Have you been here the whole time? Jeno has been looking for you!”

“I was sleeping,” the boy, Renjun, replies with a yawn. His hair is an ashy blonde and his eyes are a dark red. “You _know_ I need sleep or else my brain stops functioning properly.”

Yuta scowls, “Renjun, what kind of Navigator are you, we could be getting lost—”

“ _Technically_ you don’t even need a Navigator right now Oh, Great Captain Nakamoto,” Renjun bites back, “ _Second of all_ , my nap was cut short because you’re too distracted to notice the Scan monitor detected something so here I am telling you that…the Scan monitor is detecting something.”

“What?” Taeil and Yuta snap their head to look at a blue monitor near the front of the room. Sure enough, two small beeping green dots show up on the screen.

“There’s two incoming unidentified objects.” Renjun sighs.

“Should we be worried?” Taeyong bites his lip thinking back on the deadly meteors Yuta mentioned earlier.

“Hardly. The objects are extremely small, they just happen to be aiming right at our starship at an alarming speed.” Renjun replies with a shrug before taking out what appears to be chewing gum from Earth.

“They're gonna scratch my ship!” Yuta exclaims hotly, “We should obliterate them!” He punches the air with his fist, not looking away from the monitor.

“I second that.” Renjun pipes in.

“Just zoom in with the real-life monitor before doing anything,” Taeil counters, still staring at the Scan. “We don’t want a repeat of the time you blasted off two _endangered star-anemones_."

Yuta visibly darkens. “That was hardly my fault but ok, let’s bring it up everytime Yuta fucks up.” He does as he is told though, and a giant screen appears before them.

Sure enough, the camera zooms in to show two small, neon yellow objects moving in meteor-like speed but not quite—instead, they look more like little capsules flying at the speed of light, Taeyong observes.

“Are those…Federation Exploring Pods?” Yuta asks loudly before zooming in even more.

Renjun pops his bubblegum once. “Yup.”

“Maybe I should just work in the kitchens with Jaemin,” Yuta mutters before speaking through a small microphone taped to his jacket’s shoulder pad. “Jeno, can you open up doors 14 and 15, please? I’ll reduce velocity from 100 to 70warps.”

“Got it.” Jeno’s voice is heard through the mic.

“I’ll go see what all this fuss is about.” Yuta frowns, “Renjun come with me.”

“I might have an idea on who’s inside those pods.” Renjun snickers before standing up and following the taller alien.

“Can I come too?” Taeyong asks abruptly, all heads turning to look at him. Hell, he even surprises himself.

“Sure.” Renjun smiles with a wave after a beat of silence.

“That’s not up for you to decide.” Yuta frowns pointing at Renjun as if he were a little kid and now Taeyong wonders how old Renjun actually is. He can’t be _too young_ , not if he knows how to navigate an interstellar starship.

Yuta turns to Taeil, “Keep Taeyong at the back and don’t let him do anything stupid.”

Taeyong huffs, he may not know…almost anything about space, but he’s not stupid. He’s one of the most refined and dangerous species back on Earth!

Taeil nods at Yuta before following the other two and makes a beeline towards the exit before looking back at Taeyong with a smile. Taeyong notices the protective stance he holds in front of him. Maybe back on Earth he’s a dangerous creature, but here, Taeyong supposes, he isn’t really much of a threat. Small Taeil is probably a more adept fighter in space than him; he ought to ask him for lessons sometime.

They make their way towards the center of the West Wing, where a decent-sized elevator is located. Yuta punches in multiple buttons that Taeyong doesn’t understand before the elevator is floating towards who knows where. The vampire sighs internally: it’s a struggle. He knows approximately twelve human languages, has degrees in medicine, architecture and art, masters Tae Kwon Do and Wushu… but here? He barely understands how to use an elevator.

Before long, they arrive towards a broad area labeled Port Station 14 where different, smaller aircrafts are located. Taeyong looks in amazement, even these small aircrafts are _so_ big. He has little time to look at them though, as a loud crash is heard near the end of the room.

Everyone ushers forward, Taeyong notices Yuta even takes out what looks like a small blue weapon and takes note that Taeil, still walking in front of him, has his hand on a similar one, apparently being hidden under his pink jacket all this time.

The doors that lead to open space close down, but the crystal window between them and the strange pods is kept closed.

Taeyong keeps his distance, not wanting to trouble Yuta and yes, a little bit scared himself, but he still manages to take a good look at the pods as he hides behind the wing of a spacecraft.

One of the pods opens with a slam, making everyone jump in surprise.

“Fuck!” a high-pitched voice coughs. “Fucking Mark! What in the fuck!”

White vapor comes out of the pod before a lithe figure can be seen, auburn hair peeks out first before a whole body jumps out. A freckled boy in the standard Federation uniform, a slightly different version that the one Yuta is sporting, says, “Remind me to never go out Quartz-hunting again with this loser.” He rushes over to the second pod a few feet away from him.

“ _Haechan?_ ” Taeil wails next to Taeyong before running over to the kneeling boy who’s frantically trying to open the other pod.

“What in the Sworlox’s name are you doing here?” Yuta questions as he walks to help out Haechan and Taeil. “We were supposed to pick you up in Taizen!”

Haechan punches a few numbers on the pod, frown evident on his face, “So me and Mark decided to go Quartz-hunting in that ugly abandoned moon by the SM Starbase. Mark didn’t want to, of course, since we aren’t exactly supposed to use our Exploration suits while off-duty but you know, who cares—”

Taeil makes an annoyed noise at that but Haechan ignores him.

“And all was going well and we were on our way back to the Starbase but our friend _Mark_ here saw a stray mooncat floating away and decided to help it.” He sighs one last time before the pod’s door opens with a click. “The idiot didn’t see an asteroid current that was coming our way and so I went to get him but it was too late and the current took both of us out.”

Taeyong, seeing there isn’t much danger, finally peeks out from the starcraft and makes his way where everyone is, curious at the newcomers.

“Nothing really bad happened to us. Well, at least to me, but Mark took a decent hit against one of the bigger asteroids. He went unconscious for a few minutes before waking up and we’ve been pod-traveling ever since.”

“SM Starbase is still so far away from here, Haechan.” Taeil splutters, “How long were you in the pods for?”

A loud cough comes from the newly-opened pod before another voice says, “We activated them not long after the asteroids took us away. But we only started warp travel when we picked up a signal that the NCT was nearby.”

“By nearby you mean thousands of zenters away?” Renjun quirks an eyebrow.

Finally, Mark heaves himself up from the capsule, an embarrassed smile on his face. “We knew you guys would open up the Ports.”

“Yuta wanted to blast you off.” Taeyong says as Haechan and Mark notice his presence for the first time. Taeil and Renjun laugh at the Captain’s flustered face.

“I-it was a joke.” He whines, “I would never. Not after the star-anemones!”

“Ooh, and who are you?” Haechan asks curiously from where he’s kneeling down to help a still wobbly Mark stand up before dropping him, the latter only managing to yelp a weak _ouch._ Taeil surges forward to help poor Mark out. “You’re cute!”

“See, I told you, Taeil!” Yuta says before turning to Haechan, “He’s Taeyong, he’s a human from Earth and he’s Taeil’s—well, I don’t know what he is to Taeil but you know me, I’m too polite to directly ask.”

“He’s my friend from Earth,” Taeil grumbles, keeping a sturdy grasp around Mark’s arm.

“And he’s sleeping on the first floor rooms.” Jaemin says loudly as he finally walks through the Port Station doors.

“ _The first floor rooms?”_ Haechan exclaims, “What kind of privilege?”

“I know!” Jaemin giggles as he helps Taeil support Mark’s other side.

Mark groans, “I’m feeling a little light headed, can someone please take me to Jeno?”

Jaemin stares him down, “Why Jeno?”

“Yeah, Mark, Jeno isn’t even a doctor,” Haechan finally turns his attention back to him. “Do you like him or something? Do you perhaps have a case of the lovebug, Mark? Did the asteroid perhaps hit you too hard—”

Mark rolls his eyes, “Is there anyone else aboard that’s part of the Science Department? No, I don’t think so. At least he’ll be able to bandage me up and give me some aspirins.”

“Those are our junior Explorers, Mark and Haechan.” Taeil says walking up next to the vampire, “They’re quite…fun. Sometimes.” He ends with half a sigh, half a laugh.

Haechan huffs at Mark in annoyance, “Ok, c’mon buddy let’s take you to Jeno.”

Before leaving through the doors Haechan turns back and says, “Nice meeting you, Taeyong! It’ll be lovely being stuck with you in this starship! Hope you don't mind having fun!”

☽

Taeyong watches in fear as Haechan and Renjun stare each other down. They haven't blinked in over 10 minutes.

“Is this this safe?”

“Give it up, guys,” Jaemin looks at his nails disinterestedly, “We'll call it a tie.”

“No way.” Haechan scowls while munching on a Jupiter Pickle Chip, never taking his eyes off the silver haired boy in front of him.

Renjun agrees. “Yeah, no ties. If I lose I lose like a true Fexnian: just knife me in the spine so I can wither in pain before I die. Like my father taught me and his father taught him and—”

“We're not gonna kill you, Renjun.” Jeno rolls his eyes, “It’s just a game of Interpoly.”

“You're only saying that because you already lost!” Haechan adds.

“Whatever, just finish this up so we can play Uno next.”

 _Uno_. Taeyong sighs in relief. Finally something he knows how to play that doesn't involve Renjun and Haechan trying to bite each other's heads off.

“No,” Renjun suddenly says, “I feel a sneeze coming up. I’m gonna sneeze! Sworlox, this isn't _fair_.”

Haechan whoops in victory as Renjun spasms, the sneeze a few seconds away from happening.

However, before it does, Haechan feels a pair of cold hands come up behind him, effectively covering his own eyes and making him lose.

“Mark, I hate you!”

Mark laughs loudly before sitting on a cushion next to Haechan. Taeyong isn't exactly sure what it is about him, but he's come to learn in the past few weeks living in the NCT, that Mark exudes an aura of security and comfort, like a blanket.

“If you’d won, Renjun would’ve probably stabbed his own spine. I was thinking of the greater good.” He smiles before taking Haechan’s bag of chips.

“Just say you like Renjun and go!” Haechan snarks as he takes his chips back with a hiss.

“Mark likes Renjun?” Taeyong asks watching the youngsters’ drama unfold before him. It's entertaining.

“It was just a joke!” Haechan turns to look at him quickly and Taeyong recoils.

“It wasn't a joke that Mark took Renjun as his prom date during third year.” Jaemin interferes. “That was hilarious.”

Renjun chokes on the bubbly purple concoction he’s drinking. “Why would you bring that up?”

Jeno chimes in with a laugh, “You both wore matching ties. There must be pictures somewhere, it was cute.”

Mark’s face flushes a deep red before standing up, defensive stance and all. “I asked Renjun out because he was a good friend and the rest of you wanted to ditch my senior prom!”

“ _Was_ a good friend? What am I now?” Renjun says, insulted.

“Maybe this is his way of asking you out.” Jaemin jokes before looking at Haechan, but the freckled alien is only looking at Mark with a twisted purse of the lips.

“Ditch your prom? Didn’t you only ask Renjun out because his dad is the High Commander of the Fexnian Fleet?” Haechan says with malice, “I’m sure _your_ own dad was over the moon about your date, huh, Mark?”

Everyone else in the room falls silent; Mark looks back at Haechan for a few beats, face unreadable, before speaking up. “You can be a real asshole sometimes, Donghyuck.”

Mark leaves abruptly, causing Renjun and Jaemin to sigh. Taeyong’s confused at the whole ordeal, he feels awkward and he doesn’t understand anything.

“Haechan…” Jeno says softly.

The other boy huffs out in annoyance before deflating. “I’ll go talk to him.” He groans with a bite of lips before he stands up and goes the same direction Mark had gone to minutes before.

“Did I miss something?” Taeil suddenly comes into the Common Room, cake in hand. “Why are you all so…quiet? Shouldn’t you be trying to kill each other with laser beams or whatever is it that you guys do?”

“We were just leaving, actually,” Jaemin replies as Jeno puts their Interpoly board game away.

“We can’t ever have nice things in this spaceship.” Renjun complains, “I don’t even like Mark.” He mutters under his breath. The three boys leave in silence making Taeil raise a curious eyebrow at them.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck baby-sitting them.” Taeil says before plopping down on the space next to him.

Taeyong shakes his head before smiling, “They can be really fun when they’re not playing near-death games.”

“Yeah,” Taeil smiles, “Don’t tell them, but those kids really make this place a little brighter. Without them it’d just be us old grumps in space.”

Taeyong asks, “How old are they anyway?”

Taeil ponders for a second, “Well, Mark’s around 220 human years. He’s the oldest by a few years.”

“They’re…babies.” Taeyong laughs, “I’m double their age.”

“Please, I’m at least a hundred years older than you.” Taeil munches on his piece of cake, cheek full of the desert. Taeyong think it’s a complete paradox to what he’s saying, he looks like a little kid enjoying Halloween candy.

“How old are you anyways Moon Taeil? I’d surprise you with how long I’ve been alive.”

“I turn 478 human years this year.” Taeil preens, “And my dad still calls me a little kiddo, can you believe it?”

“I do believe it. And it’s not by a hundred years,” the vampire chastises, pinching a piece of Taeil’s cake in the process. “Just 50 years.”

“And, if you think about it,” he continues, “You’re still young because you’re meant to live long. But I was supposed to die 400 years ago so technically I’m older.”

“Well I’m glad you didn’t die.” Taeil says casually taking the last bite of his food, “We wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

Taeyong’s throat dries in an instant and a chill runs down his spine. He has never been glad about being bitten. In over 400 years he’s never been glad about being immortal.

“ _Oof_.” Taeil yawns loudly as he gets up from the couch, backbones cracking. “Well, we should get some sleep, tomorrow we land on Taizen. It’ll be your first visit to a planet other than Earth!”

Taeyong smiles weakly, “I’m still nervous about it.”

Taeil ruffles his hair before heading out, “You’ll like it, I’m sure of it. And I’ll be there with you so don’t worry...I got a blaster with me at all times.”

The thought of dorky Taeil using a gun makes Taeyong smile and for a moment, his worries are dispersed. Maybe being immortal for a little while won't be so bad.

☽

 

Perhaps it’s a good thing that there aren't any windows on the multi-pod. Taeyong doesn't think he'd be able to hold on to his breakfast if he were to look out now and see how he and everyone else are just floating in space inside a little frail scrap of metal.

Yuta had decided that this time they would save themselves the hassle and leave the NCT in the East Taizen Starbase for repairs and combustible refill instead of taking it down with them. That meant all 8 of them would go down to Taizen in a small warp multi-pod. It's a tight fit but Yuta assured them the trip would only last half an hour.

Feeling Haechan’s elbow dig into his stomach and listening to Jaemin and Yuta argue back and forth makes 30 minutes seem like an eternity.

He sighs for the umpteenth time since they got into the pod; Jeno, who is sitting next to him—more like almost _on top_ of him — seems to notice his exasperation and gives him a sympathetic _I know_ look.

“Jeno, Taeyong, pay attention,” Yuta exclaims before turning to the rest of the group. “Ok crew, we'll be staying here for the remaining of the Taizenian day...just look at your TriVex for the time conversion. It should be roughly around 15 UGF hours.”

Taeyong looks down at his pink TriVex, a gift from Taeil nearly a week ago. It’s supposed to resemble the functions that his Chip ZoK had back on Earth, except the TriVex works with a Galactic interweb.

He's also come to learn that, even though most of them have similar sleep patterns and circadian rythms, human hours are a bit shorter than the majority of Quadrant I’s. He supposes this is where being a tireless vampire has come in handy.

“Renjun and I will be signing in at the Federation HQ,” Yuta continues with a sigh, “We’ll also be fixing some paperwork that needs to be done before arriving at Centaur II. Jeno, Mark and Haechan you need to pick up whatever it is you need to fix the cryogenic room and Taeil, I just need you to pick up Ten before we leave. After that, you’re all are free to go wherever you want as long as you meet us at the Pod-Port in five hours.”

“Yessir.” Mark salutes, “Don't worry Captain, we got it.”

“I hope so,” Yuta mumbles, “I’m missing out on a whole day of being at the beach to do paperwork.”

“What about me? I’m not even captain and I’m stuck with Yuta.” Renjun squeaks from his seat.

Before anyone can retort, the whole pod moves abruptly, shaking everyone inside as it makes a rough landing.

“I hate these pods.” Haechan shivers before the automatic doors open and an electronic voice says: _Welcome to Cigna Vox, capital of Vinko, 3rd Nation under Quadrant I Planet, Taizen._

The first thing Taeyong sees is the sun. He’s the first one out of the pod, almost stumbling over because of how fast he tried getting out.

He looks up. It's not the sun from Earth, that much is obvious. This one seems so much faraway, instead, this star gives off a small tint of blue and Taeyong can't help but laugh in joy, arms wide open and head still facing up. He can feel the lukewarm sunrays touch his skin and it feels like warm cotton, like the clothes he used to wear when he was human.

Taeyong doesn't see the rest of the crew smile at him with knowing smiles, he doesn't see Taeil’s eyes sparkle the way Taeyong’s are.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy.” Taeil comes up from behind, resting a hand on Taeyong’s spread arms.

“That’s because I haven’t been this happy.” Taeyong replies, “In a long time.”

Taeil grins back at him before Jaemin interrupts them, holding off a smile of his own. “Taeil?” he taps the older’s shoulder, “We should get going and get Ten.”

Taeils breaks out of his reverie, “Ten! Right, haven’t seen that guy in ages."

They end up taking a flying taxi to go to a place called the Dubux Center. Supposedly it's _the biggest shopping mall on this side of the First Quadrant,_ Taeil boasts. The Taxi driver is quiet and Taeyong doesn't know if it's just his active imagination with a mix of nerves playing tricks on him, or if the Taizanian really sends him glares through the rearview window. He nervously taps his own thigh before Taeil takes hold of it in reassurance. He still isn't sure how Taeil seems to read his mind—at least his emotions. Taeyong hopes this isn't some kind of Luminarian ability the other has hidden from him.

When they arrive to the Dubux Center, Taeyong is absolutely speechless. The giant open dome goes from one end to another, seemingly endless and infinite.

"And that's just the West side." Jaemin giddily says, hands clasped in bursting excitement. "I've been saving up for this trip."

"What do you even buy here?" Taeyong questions, "Are these like the stores back on Earth?"

Taeil nods ushering them towards a ticketing booth labeled Cart Rental. "There's all kinds of stores. Clothes and electronics and food."

"Food." Jaemin repeats.

The concept of clothes right now seems alluring to Taeyong. He's been wearing Yuta's spare clothes while on the spaceship, and while grateful, he thinks orange and navy blue spacesuits don't look nearly as good on him. Buying something fashionable might appease his spoiled, extravagant heart.

When Taeil said they needed to rent a shopping cart, Taeyong thought he meant—well, an actual _shopping cart_. He needs to stop expecting stuff to be anything remotely normal out here in space. Instead, they end up renting a small car, big enough to fit in 4 people plus their shopping bags.

"It's mostly so we can actually go from place to place. This mall is huge, if we wanna go anywhere, we're gonna need an actual car." Taeil starts the car's ignition pressing a fingerprint to a small scanner.

And it's true. When they actually come of the Parking Tunnel, Taeyong's eyes grow as wide as saucers. It almost looks more like a tiny city than a shopping center, with flying cars going in all directions, from store to store and from booth to booth. It's incredible.

"We have a few hours until we have to meet Ten near the Main Pet shop." Taeil instructs as he drives his way towards a small intersection.

"What is Ten even doing in Taizen?" Jaemin inquires, "I thought he'd be in B14 with the rest."

"Last I heard Ten was planet party-hopping" Taeil rolls his eyes, "Honestly, the amount of partying that little body can do is incredible."

Taeyong doesn't want to be too nosy but he might as well ask. "Who's Ten? Is he part of your crew too?"

"Ten's the First Officer of Exploration." Taeil replies.

"Basically he's Haechan’s and Mark's boss." Jaemin pipes in. "He's very fun! He likes to bake cakes with me!"

Taeyong has somehow managed to pick up on some official terms now that he's been aboard the NCT for the past few weeks. He knows that Mark and Haechan are Explorers. It's their job to physically go down to unexplored and unknown planets whenever the mission requests it. Of course, always under the supervision of a Captain and his Officers. He can only wonder what Mark and Haechan's boss is like—however, if he's anything like Yuta, he thinks he could be as fun as Jaemin says.

Per Jaemin's request they arrive at a sizeable clothing store with a name Taeyong can't even dare pronounce.  The clothes, surprisingly, don't seem to be as different or as extravagant as Taeyong would’ve thought. If anything, more than a few pieces of clothing catch his eye. It is not long after they arrive that Taeyong becomes like a wandering kid running around a store full of candy. Jaemin isn't much better than him and  Taeil finds himself having to run after them in an attempt at keeping them close.

"Are you sure you need all of that?" Taeil asks after Taeyong carries a whole bundle of clothings in his arms.

"Of course. I mean, I can't be out here in space with the same three changes of clothes, can I?" Taeyong grins. There's a scarily amount of black long sleeved shirts in his hands. "Aren't you gonna buy anything, Taeil?"

Taeil shakes his head, "It's ok, I got all I need back in the starship."

"You always wear those weird Earthling clothes, anyways." Jaemin asks as he tries on a pair of holographic sunglasses.

"Maybe I do," Taeil sniffs, tugging at the end of his sleeve, "But this is what I like wearing."

"I think you'd look good in one of Taeyong's shirts." Jaemin continues, "He's hot so maybe you can learn something from him, Captain."

"What are you trying to say you little _waoeilr!_ " Taeil exclaims, affronted. "I look good enough as is."

The sudden thought of Taeil dressed up in all black and leather makes Taeyong want to choke a little. It's a weird thought to have, but he can't say it's entirely unwelcomed. But, and this is just Taeyong’s unfounded and biased opinion and affinity towards Taeil's stupid jackets, he thinks Taeil looks best in soft and wrapping fabric.

Taeil leads them to the payment box, a blue electronic box that calculates the expenses for them. As Taeyong takes out his Earth credit card, he thanks, not for the first time, the vampire's money hungry empire and all the endless funds he gets from their endeavours. Junmyeon might be rolling in money and traveling from place to place in his private jet and expensive suits, but Taeyong's savings could rival even his. Sometimes being a vampire does have its benefits, he muses.

Jaemin and Taeil can only watch in silent wonder as Taeyong swipes his credit card and even offers to pay for Jaemin's few articles. Jaemin emanates infatuation.

Before moving on to the music store Taeil wants to go to, they stop at a small stand that reads in both Taizanian and Standard Federation: _Foiloi._ The vendor explains in a broken but kind accent that Foiloi is a traditional street food made up of the sour bird Foi and regular spices. Jaemin devours his in an instant, all smiles and glee, and Taeyong has to commend him for his bravery in all things food. Taeil and Taeyong are a little more reserved but even they end up finishing their cup in a few minutes.

The music store end up being all kinds of treats for Taeil the same way the clothing store had been for Taeyong. He goes through all these album chips from artists that Taeyong hadn't even heard of before and ends up buying a great amount of them. It's nice seeing the older man with such excitement, Taeyong thinks, just like their time in Tokyo.

They walk and window-shop a few more stores located in the main Shopping Avenue before Taeil's TriYex surprises them all with a shrill alarm telling them to go to the Pet Shop.

"I'm always sad going into pet stores," Taeil announces wistfully, "I always want to take a pet with me but animals aren't allowed on the starship."

"I've only ever had a dog," Taeyong replies as they enter the pet shop. It looks bigger on the inside than the outside, a white clinical light filling the room brimmed with cages and crystal boxes. "That was when I was a human so it's been a really, _really_ long time."

"Maybe you should get one when you go back to Earth," Taeil adds as they walk up to a small crystal full of something akin to the rabbits Taeyong knows. Except one of the creatures suddenly flies up to them and Taeyong recoils back.

"It's a Girky," Jaemin explains, "They're popular pets for little children. They only eat organic plants so they won't bite you."

A flying rodent with one green eye is maybe not the idea of cute Taeyong has in mind but he doesn't mention anything, opting to not get near the Girky crystal again.

"Aren’t there any cats?"

"There were some sleeping mooncats near the end of the store." a man says coming up next to Taeyong making him turn around.

"I have no idea what a mooncat is." Taeyong replies easily. In front of him stands a guy a bit shorter than him, choppy dark hair and catlike eyes.

"Ten!" Jaemin exclaims before rushing to hug the newcomer. Ten smiles as he's enveloped in Jaemin's excited hug.

"Hi, Jaemin, long time no see."

"Yeah," Jaemin separates himself from the hug and looks down at Ten with an accusing glare, " _Five years_. You said you'd go visit me and the rest of the junior squad at the Strawberry Starbase but you didn't."

Ten winces, "I've been a little busy. I'll make it up to you guys."

"Ten." Taeil interrupts with a greeting, "Still as short as ever."

Ten frowns before erupting into a half smile, "Look who's talking, Lightbulb."

Taeyong blankly stares at Ten's perfectly sculpted nose in curiousity; he wonders if it's been through surgery.

"I'm appalled at the assumption." Ten finally directs his attention back to Taeyong. "It's all natural."

"Did I say that out loud?" Taeyong reddens as Jaemin erupts in giggles,

"You didn't have to," Ten preens before extending his arm in greetings, "Hi, I'm Ten. Like the number."

Taeyong arches an eyebrow at the offered handshake but takes it nonetheless. He hasn't met anyone that greets like the people on Earth do so far.

"Ah, so I was correct," Ten hums still looking at him before _tsk_ -ing, "You humans are the easiest to detect."

"What are you on about, Ten?" Taeil asks. They make their way towards the store's exit with Taeil leading the way towards their parked Cart.

Ten shrugs, "The way he speaks, the way he stands, the way he's wearing that floppy badly dyed hair. It’s all very human to an absurd degree.”

" _Badly dyed?_ " Taeyong cries out, taking a handful of his own red strands.

"Humans are probably the only ones who still use hair dye instead of Pigment Holopills." Ten chastises, "I'll give you one later, I have tons of them. I went through a phase 2 years ago and I loved changing my hair color all the time." he realizes with a hand over his heart. “Now I just keep it naturally dark.”

"Anyways,” he continues flippantly, “is Taeyong the human our new Tactical Officer or what?"

"Why would we need a new Tact?" Jaemin sends a questioning glance at the First Officer.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought we might've gotten rid of the one we had by now, I guess not." Ten says innocently.

Taeil sends him a distrustful glare. The Cart scans Taeil’s fingertip before the ignition starts and the elder makes the trek back to the mall’s entrance. “We’re going to Bizzmid Beach, Ten. We’re meeting everyone there.”

“Who’s everyone?”

“Yuta and the juniors.”

Ten hums with a nod, looking out the window. “And the rest?”

“Bormit 14,” Jaemin jumps in, “Then we’ll go to Zed Luminar to drop Taeil there before we get to Centaur II.”

“Nice.” Ten grimaces, “So we get a whole month stuck in the starship?”

“A little less but yeah.” Taeil rolls his eyes, “We know you like partying Ten but control yourself until the trip is over. How’s Johnny by the way?”

“Who?” Ten asks loudly.

“You aren’t deaf,” Taeil scrunches his eyebrows, “I asked about Johnny.”

“Oh,” Ten shrugs before looking out the window in disinterest, “Probably out there being a little bitch, I don’t know.”

Taeyong raises an eyebrow at the glaringly obvious human curse word.

“What are—” Taeil starts before he’s cut off by his TriVex echoing throughout the Cart.

“Taeil,” Yuta’s loud voice is heard by all four of them, “Renjun and I just made it out of the Federation Clearance... Did you get Ten?”

“I’m right here, Nakamoto.” Ten chirps in, “All safe and sound.”

Taeil continues as he drives through the busy flying transit of Cigna Vox, “Shall we meet you at Bizzmid then?”

“Yeah we’ll be on our way, bring sunscreen!”

“The sun is going down soon.” Jaemin adds, “Which I guess is good, you know that Jeno sunburns easily and last time his skin turned green, it was hilarious.” he laughs at the memory before looking at Taeyong, “Do you get sunburn too?”

Taeyong shakes his head, “Younger vampires get severe rashes but it does almost nothing to me. I used to get a little itchy when I spent more than a few hours out but that was centuries ago.”

“A sunless planet.” Ten joins, “It makes a great planet to party, you know? Earth is wild.”

Taeyong isn’t much of the partying type anymore, but he can agree with that statement, suddenly having flashbacks of his younger years as a lustful vampire. Before he can delve more into it, the Cart stops, parking near patches of fluffy blue strands that closely resemble the grass of Earth.

“We’ll get off here since we can’t take vehicles into the beach,” Taeil explains, “So we’ll just have to walk the rest of the way. I’m sure Yuta and Renjun are already there.”

Upon walking closer to the surrounding white grass, Taeyong can see it resembles something more akin to Earth's dandelions. Soft and moving along with an increasingly stronger wind. They walk a narrow path in the middle of the dandelion grass, with Taeil leading them and Ten just a little beside him. Jaemin, as it seems to be a Thing now, walks comfortably next to the vampire.

He wonders if the little white stems will blow away into dust like an earth dandelion would. He stops in his tracks and quickly grabs one. Jaemin looks back at him in curiosity.

"What is it, Taeyong?" he asks as the elder brings up the flower near his face and inspects it.

"These look a lot like a type of flower we have back on Earth," he says walking up to Jaemin and continuing their shory trek towards the beach. "Very similar but not quite. Dandelions."

"Dandelions." Jaemin tries the word for the first time. "Dande—"

He's interrupted by the little cotton petals Taeyong blows onto his face. He blinks twice, wide eyed.

"It broke?" Jaemin exclaims as soon he realizes that the flower is gone, only a thin stem is left.

Taeyong smiles, "They're fun, aren't they?"

The younger boy's smiles brightly before kneeling down and taking two more flowers, "Let's take some with us, I wanna show Jeno and Renjun!"

The sun is setting, light pink hues decorating the sky like a painting brush. The already small path starts dwindling even more and, Taeyong notices, the gravel-like material under his feet becomes softer until they're effectively stepping on soft sand.

Soft, bright neon yellow sand.

"Woah." he mutters under his breath.

"And you haven't even looked up," Taeil shoots him a glance with a quick smile before looking right ahead of him, where the colliding sound of waves and sand can already be heard.

Taeyong follows his gaze until his eyes meet the water in front of him. A vast, dark purple ocean surrounded by yellow sand and it's something akin to a weird sci-fi story from Earth. He supposes it makes sense seeing as his whole life has turned into real-life science fiction in just a matter of months.

"Taeil! Taeyong! Over here!" Yuta yells from a few feet away, already knee deep into the water, Federation pants already folded mid-leg. Haechan is next to him, pants in similar manner and hair already wet. Mark and Renjun are sitting nearby, atop Yuta's discarded jacket, with their toes slightly touching the ebbing waves.

Taeyong's still mesmerized at the purple waters in front of him as they make their way towards the rest of their group. The absurdity of it all hits him all at once and his throat can't help but dry in an instant.

"Hey!" Jaemin's loud squeal makes him shake his head, coming back to reality. It seems Jeno caught an unsuspecting Jaemin and splashed his whole back with cold water. Renjun laughs loudly at the pair before Ten comes up from behind him and does the same, effectively drenching him whole.

"Ten!" the young boy gasps as the cold water soaks him whole. 

"Fancy seeing you here." Ten laughs at the dripping boy before ruffling his hair and enveloping in a back hug, getting his own clothes wet.

"What a nice way to greet someone you haven't seen in a while." Renjun glares, but his cheeks are dusted a light pink.

"And this is what we call Ten Privilege." Haechan yelps before them, having strayed away from Mark, Jaemin and Jeno's water fight. "If it had been Yuta splashing him with water instead, he'd be getting his head chewed by now."

"It's because I'm his favorite." Ten smiles indulgently pinching one of Renjun’s cheeks before running towards Yuta and tackling him into the water.

"I mean, he isn't wrong." Renjun frowns when Haechan gives him a pointed look.

Before Taeyong can make a remark about Renjun's pink cheeks, death comes for him in the form of a splash of _freezing_ water all over his face and back, newly bought shirt sticking on his skin, making him feel terribly gross. He doesn't see the face of the perpetrator of this horrible act but he doesn't need to. Not when he can perfectly hear that chiming laughter at the expense of his demise.

"Taeil!" he cries, "Are you kidding me, this is ice cold!" he turns around to face his friend who is still doubling with laughter near the crashing waves.

"You look like a wet mooncat," Taeil cackles, "You look tragic."

Taeyong doesn't even have to think twice before he takes advantage of a laughing and defenseless Taeil, before he tackles him into the water, catching the half-human by surprise.

"Taeyo—" he starts yelling before they both crash into the cold as ice purple waves and his voice is drowned out.

Taeyong's whole body freezes at the contact with the water, but he still holds onto Taeil's torso innately. The area is shallow, but, as they go into the water, to Taeyong it feels like they're moving in slow-motion. He opens his eyes as gravity pulls them down and he's surprised to see Taeil do the same. They meet eyes for a few seconds as they fall, and Taeyong feels a little like he's floating into space, a sense of dejavu he can't quite pinpoint. Taeil's chestnut hair floats around his head and his cheeks puff out, holding his breath. Taeyong can't help but look anywhere but at him.

He can feel the soft contact against the sand and they suddenly bounce back up again, brusquely and mercilessly, as if the seconds just prior hadn't actually happened.

When Taeyong breaks out into the surface, he gasps for air, removing the wet strands of hair off his face, coughing once.

"Lee Taeyong!" Taeil whines loudly, rubbing water off his face. "What was that?"

The taste of salt water touches his tongue and he grimaces, trying to get it off him. Surely this water is saltier than the one back on Earth. “Revenge?” he simply says before looking up at his friend, "You started it."

Taeil doesn't refute him, just pouts and looks down at his clothes, "My sweater is wet."

"You should've taken it off before," Taeyong chastises, eyeing the orange garment that now seems bigger and heavier on Taeil's small frame.

"Maybe I would've done it if you hadn't thrown me into the water like a savage," Taeil replies as he makes his way back onto the nearby shore, Taeyong trailing behind a few paces.

The neon sand feels soft and dry as their wet feet touch it, unlike the scratchy brown sand he’s used to. It seems like it’s full nighttime already, at least the sky looks dark enough, Taeyong notes in wonder. He shivers as a gust of cold wind hits them, clothes and skin still soaked.

“Woah,” he can faintly hear a few of the juniors say in fascination. There’s a commotion a few meters from where they are, the rest of the crew has gone off to and gathered in a small spot near the crashing waves.

"What are they doing?" Taeyong asks as they eye the rest of their friends make a circle around something they can't see.

"I don't know," Taeil frowns before taking off his dripping sweater, leaving his chest bare, "C'mon, let's see what's that all about."

"You're gonna get a cold, Taeil," Taeyong says, worried. He can't take off his eyes from the other's skin, however,  most of it has to do with the fact his whole skin, yet again, has that slight effulgent light emanating off from Taeil. He thinks they look like small freckles on his shoulders, all across his back and chest, running in random and hidden places in the most perfect of ways, and Taeyong thinks there is nothing else in the galaxy that's resembles the stars as much as Taeil's flowing veins and fluorescent body. Taeil’s blood seems to light up even more, Taeyong curiously notes, and he wonders if it has something to do with the dropping temperature.

Taeyong pries his eyes away from Taeil before coughing and looking back at Yuta and his crew as they surround what looks like a water motorcycle. It seems like Yuta is attempting to ride it, everyone around him cheering him on before he gets on the seat. He turns the ignition on and falls flat on his face, the water motorcycle leaving him behind.

Ten and the juniors laugh unceremoniously at him.

"What are you doing?" Taeyong asks as they walk up them.

Yuta, who is still trying to get up and dust himself off, dignity and pride cracked a little but not enough, manages to say, "We rented this ZapBoat before coming here." he explains pointing at the now faraway vehicle riding in the distance, "But they didn’t give us any instructions, so I’m a little lost as how to ride it."

"Are you sure we can call you Captain, then?" Renjun snickers as he presses a button and the ZapBoat automatically rides back to them.

"I'll try it then." Taeil smirks in mirth, his wet hair slicked back.

Yuta, offended, challenges, "It's hard to keep your balance, it wasn't my fault! I’d like to see you try, Moon!"

The ZapBoat slowly arrives and parks near the sand. It's nothing different than a usual water motorcycle from Earth, Taeyong notes. He hasn't ridden one in a while but he thinks it shouldn't be that different.

"Just press you fingertip on the scanner," Renjun explains to Taeil, "Then try to keep balance just a moment before it drives off. I set up a route so you don't really have to do anything but try and keep balanced.."

"Alright," Taeil nods slowly, eyeing the ZapBoat closely. He looks back at Taeyong with a glint in his eye, "C'mon Lee Taeyong, let's see how well we can ride this."

"Me?" Taeyong asks, surprised, "I'll just fall and look dumb like Yuta did."

"Just hang onto me!" Taeil says reassuringly, "I'll do the rest."

Truth be told, Taeyong, doesn't necessarily think Taeil will be any better than Yuta, not that he’s going to tell the other boy. He knows there's a big chance that they're seconds away from falling into the water again while everyone else looks and laughs at them. It'll be horrible, but then again how is this any worse than riding a whole starship into space with Moon Taeil.

Taeil's eyes look so determined, Taeyong can't help but want to fall into the cold water with him.

“Alright.” he shrugs before biting his lip, Taeil grins at him before they walk up to the boat.

"You're dumb." Renjun mutters and Yuta nods in agreement.

Taeil gets on the front seat before Taeyong positions himself. It's not the most comfortable seat, especially when he has to grab onto Taeil's cold and slippery waist. He's kinda scared he'll snap the other boy in half, after all, Taeil isn't any sturdier than a toothpick but it’s not like he can talk considering he’s even skinnier than his friend. Taeyong positions his feet just above the ZapBoat and tries not to disturb it too much before Taeil locks in the ignition with his fingertip. One, two, three seconds and then motor starts.

There are two things that Taeyong realizes as soon as the ZapBoat starts driving off into the distance. The first one is that he was right in trusting Taeil. He seems to know what he's doing in terms of balance, not only for him but Taeyong's as well. The boat drives off as smoothly as it can and he’s able to hear Yuta's offended yells as well as Mark’s and Jaemin's supportive _woops_.

The second thing he realizes, however, is that it doesn't really matter how well Taeil is driving the whole thing. It doesn't matter because Taeil is screaming out bloody murder, scared out of his own wits. This, plus the actual high speed in which they're going, prompts Taeyong to start yelling and howling along Taeil.

They're out far enough into the purple sea that he thinks the rest of them won't actually hear their screams of help and terror, which is a good thing because Taeyong’s pretty embarrassed even though he can't seem to stop. Their pterodactyl screams seem to mingle with one another and maybe Taeyong regrets this whole thing a little bit.

His head starts feeling a little dizzy and he doesn't know if the boat is moving too much or if it's all him. Hopefully it's all him because he doesn't feel like falling into the cold deep sea of this strange purple and neon planet and Taeyong wonders about all the decisions that lead him to this exact moment that feels a little like death.

“We’re going to die.” he mutters under his breath, closing his eyes as small drops of water splash onto his face.

He sighs and tries looking up to the sky, at least it’ll be better than the image of deep water and a wailing Taeil.

Taeyong’s breath gets caught up in his throat for a second and the sight of such expanse of stars is absolutely mesmerizing. He still wonders how he’s ended up in this place, in this random planet with the most beautiful of skies, with this random alien boy that life put in his path. Because the glowing stars above are beautiful, but somehow they aren’t the most breathtaking thing he’s seen that night.

In that moment, he can only think of one thing: the bare skin of Moon Taeil against his own.

With his senses at its peak, he can feel his almost latent heart start beating quicker, warmer, even if he knows its an illusion, a mirage. He can feel how cold Taeil is and he wishes, for once, that his body could emanate enough heat, at least to keep Taeil warm for a second.

Taeyong _swears_ he can feel Taeil's glow burn and blaze against his own damp skin. He can feel every patch, every little glimmer and vein, every little star on his back, he can feel the blood pulsate against him, through him, as if Taeil were combusting and Taeyong’s the one to take all of the heat.

And suddenly, Taeyong knows what this bubbling feeling is, what’s been waiting to break through for the past few months. He’s falling in love with Moon Taeil and that's the scariest thought he's had in centuries. The scariest, most wonderful thought he’s had in centuries.

Taeil's screeches can still be heard in the distance but hey, they say that love's not only blind but deaf.

 ☽

 

Sleeping inside a starship is not much different than sleeping in his own room, Taeyong has come to learn. It’s astounding how he’s grown used to living in space in such a short amount of time, how he’s grown to like it. The lull of the ship’s quiet west propeller can only be heard when everyone else is asleep and he’s gotten used to the familiar sound, enough for it to make him drowsy and sleepy. It also helps knowing that he’s not alone sleeping inside an empty chilly house too big for him, not when he knows Yuta is sleeping in the room to his right, Ten on his left, the rest of the crew somewhere below him on the second floor and of course, Taeil just right in front of him.

Taeyong sighs, running a hand through his carmin hair before resting it on his bare chest. He got it dyed just a few weeks ago with the help of Ten and his hair HoloPills. He admits it’s way better than Earth’s old fashion dye.  There’s a knock on his door; talk about the devil.

“Taeyong?” Ten calls out from the other side of the door, “I’m heading towards the cafeteria to have breakfast, do you wanna come with?”

Taeyong yawns before removing the sheets off his body. “Yeah, yeah let me just put on some clothes first.” he shouts as he turns the lights on, his eyes squinting and blinking at the sudden source of light. He puts on a simple black t-shirt and a pair of shorts before meeting Ten outside.

“Morning sleepy head, it’s pretty late, you know?” Ten greets him with a smile before they turn towards the elevator. It’s become sort of routine for them both. Taeyong is still a creature that sleeps too much, that hasn’t changed and probably never will; Ten’s just kind of lazy. So almost everyday the pair wakes up at the same time and head to eat something before figuring out what to do for the rest of the lazy day. Sometimes Taeyong hangs out in the kitchen with Jaemin, trying to keep up with his enthusiastic blabbering. Other times he heads towards the Bridge with Yuta and Renjun who lazily oversee the monitors while telling him stories of their own planets. Sometimes he even lets Ten do weird things with his hair as he puts on music before the latter shows off some weird dance moves Taeyong wants to try someday. He still hasn’t told Ten about his human life as a dancer, he ought to do it soon.

“It’s not like it’s really morning, is it?” Taeyong replies, “We’re just floating through space, time doesn’t exist.”

“Touché.” Ten ponders, “Gotta use that one on Yuta sometime.”

The cafeteria is a giant room just above the starboard airlock, with too many chairs and long tables all across the place. It’s connected to the second floor of Jaemin’s gigantic kitchen. He can see Haechan, Renjun and Mark sitting in one corner of the first table, talking amicably with almost-finished breakfasts, no Taeil or Yuta on sight. It looks way too empty, and Taeyong wonders how it must look like while the ship is on active duty.

“How big is the crew?” he asks Ten as they walk where Jaemin is standing behind the kitchen’s buffet, where he’s squishing down what looks like some sort of  blue oatmeal. “When you’re on Federation duty, I mean.”

“There’s around twenty of us part of the High Crew. Which is counting Captains, Officers and Explorers.” Ten counts, “But then we also got our maintenance crew and all the other departments under the officers. I’d say there’s nearly one hundred of us.”

“So this is why this place is huge.” Taeyong reasons, “It must be hectic all the time.”

“Taeyong!” Jaemin greets, “There’s Kooz Soup today for breakfast, but don’t you want something else to eat? Something a little more Earthling?”

Taeyong glances at the blue oatmeal for a quick second before briskly replying, “It’s ok Jaemin! I’ll eat whatever you cooked today.” Jaemin seems disappointed but nods, plunking spoonfuls of the gooey soup onto two bowls. This has also become routine; Jaemin enthusiastically asks every morning if Taeyong wants something special from Earth to eat. Taeyong always denies him, not wanting to trouble the younger boy. One of these days he’ll take him up on his offer, mostly for his sake, but also because it’d be nice to eat scrambled eggs with bacon for once.

“How come you never ask _me_ if I want something else for breakfast?” Ten whines as he grabs his Kooz bowl and a jug of green murdak juice.

“Vandana food doesn’t challenge my cooking skills,” Jaemin waves disinterestedly, “Anyways, if you see Yuta tell him his mom called again and top stop making me answer for him.”

Taeyong nods before they make their way to the rest of the crew, he can already hear their squawks and loud discussion even if it’s just three of them.

“Morning, juniors.” Ten takes a seat next to Renjun while Taeyong sits in front of him, next to Mark.

“Morning Ten and Taeyong,” Mark smiles before Taeyong reciprocates it. He looks down at his soup. Months ago we wouldn’t have dare touch it, but now he’s learned that if he doesn’t actually ask what he’s eating, he’ll most likely enjoy the food. He made the mistake of asking what a pair of green meatballs was once and had to stealthily give his food to Jeno afterwards, appetite lost.

“When will we stop being called juniors?” Renjun tells Ten with brows furrowed, “I’m technically the Navigation Officer, that’s _high rank_.” he surreptitiously straightens his back and tries to puff up his chest.

“That’s right, Renjun!” Haechan agrees, “Are we gonna have to wait until there’s younger crew or what? We’re not kids, I’m almost two Gallorian years now!”

“I don’t think you’ll ever stop being the juniors.” Ten shrugs, “But just so you know, we _are_ getting a new Explorer trainee as soon as we start formal expedition.” he pauses, “Actually, I don’t think Yuta wanted you to know that yet.”

“A new explorer?” Mark rises from his seat with shining eyes, “That means me and Haechan won’t be junior explorers anymore?”

“I didn’t say that,” Ten stops him, “It just means you’ll train him for a while and he’ll be under _your_ care.”

He continues, “His name’s Jisung and he was personally recommended by Jaehyun. Just out of Fleet Academy, ranked number one in Exploration. If anything, he’ll surpass you both in no time.”

“How dare—”

“Ten! Did you just tell them about Jisung and Chenle?” Taeil surprises them all, sitting next to Taeyong and setting his food down. “Yuta told you not to.”

“Who’s Chenle?” Renjun questions.

“I didn’t tell them about Chenle.” Ten sticks out his tongue before stuffing his mouth with food.

Taeil groans, “No one. Pretend Ten and I didn’t say anything.”

“Who’s Chenle? Who’s Chenle? Who’s Chenle?” Haechan starts chanting before Renjun and Mark join him. Taeyong has half a thought on joining them but he doesn't want to be stared down by Taeil so he stays quiet.

Taeil sighs, “He’s just a new engineer that’ll be training under Jeno, don’t worry about it. And just pretend you don’t know this, please. Yuta knows how much you all like to spread information throughout the whole Quadrant.”

“Our lips are sealed, Taeil.” Mark says, “We’re just excited we won’t be the juniors anymore.”

Conversation amongst them goes on and Taeyong tries to join in, but he’s too aware of Taeil’s presence next to him. Ever since the trip at Bizzmid and Taeyong’s newfound feelings, he’s been too pensive and conscious about the Luminarian.

He doesn’t think he’s been acting too differently, or that Taeil or anyone else has noticed. It’s more of an inner struggle, Taeyong’s come to realize, one where he finds himself staring too much at Taeil whenever the other is speaking or when sometimes he’s caught up in his thoughts about the older male.

Taeyong isn’t going through a crisis, he’s too old for that. If anything, the fact that he likes Moon Taeil more than a friend has come and settled into his undead heart and he’s accepted it far too easily. He really likes Taeil; he likes the way Taeil smiles and the way it makes himself feel just a little lighter and a little happier. He likes his violet eyes and the way they seem to always observe and see more than what there is, he likes it even more when it is him whom Taeil is looking at. He likes his skin, of course, he likes every part of it. But most of all, he likes the way silly little Taeil makes him feel not only secure and familiar, but also full of adventure and filled with enthusiasm for what’s next to come, for life.

“Taeyong?” Taeil says his name twice before Taeyong finally notices.

“Yeah?” he replies, embarrassed at being caught daydreaming.

Taeil smiles at him, his un-dyed natural brown locks are getting too long, Taeyong notices, it’s a good look. “I _said_ we’re going to the command bridge to play Galaga 4000, do you wanna come?”

“Of course.” he smiles giddily. It’s entertaining to see how bad all of them are at video games, Taeyong hasn’t lost to them even once.

“C’mon then, let’s get the best seats, Haechan always leaves the floor to us.”

Taeil likes to hold hands, that’s a fact Taeyong had noticed even when they were back on Earth. Now he’s come to realize, as Taeil’s warm hands hold on tightly onto his cold ones, that he has liked it too, every single time and ever since the first time.

☽

 

Taeyong knows everything always goes wrong when he’s involved, and he’d be a fool to think otherwise. He learns that a few days before their second stop.

“We’re two days away from Bormit 14. We won’t stay there long, alright?” Yuta pauses and stares pointedly at Renjun, who’s been whining all morning about wanting to visit the Volcano 14 Amusement Park. “We’re just gonna pick up some of the crew while Jeno goes out and buys some uh…” he scratches his head.

“Gebo fuel pump.” Jeno pipes in.

“ _Gebo fuel pump_. That’s right. So yeah, don’t get your hopes up, don’t make big plans.”

“So who exactly are we picking up in Bormit?” Ten questions with a hint of suspicion as he lazily sprawls across the sofa.

Yuta furrows his eyebrows at the question, “Jaehyun, Sicheng, Kun, Johnn—”

“Ugh, I knew it!” Ten dramatically groans in anguish, “I thought you’d fired him or something by now!”

“Why would Johnny be fired?” Mark asks, “He’s great.”

“Yeah, what are you on about Ten?” Taeil asks from where he’s sitting on the floor sipping sweet chocopox from a cup. “You said the same thing back in Taizen.”

Ten rolls his eyes. “Nothing new. You know I can’t stand Johnny, that’s all. Never have, never will.”

Yuta makes a noncommittal sound while Haechan snorts. “Right.”

“Sworlox Ten, you’re almost as bad as Doyoung.” Renjun judges him with a look before turning around to finish his game of Jenga with Jaemin. It seems Quadrant I aliens truly love their Earthling board games.

“I’m tired.” Haechan blows his hair out of his forehead, “Can we just put on a movie before going to bed?”

“I second that.” Mark adds, “We can watch a horror movie.”

Taeyong thinks back at the last time they watched a movie nearly two weeks ago. He didn't understand the language, as it was in Vandanian, Ten’s mother language, and the subtitles didn't do much for him either.

“Can it be an Earthling movie this time?” Taeyong tries his luck. “We can watch the Predator reboots.”

“It’s my turn to pick the movie.” Haechan complains draping himself across the sofa.

“Pick something from Earth, Haechan-nie.” Taeyong singsongs with a bright grin towards the younger boy. The vampire knows he’s cute and he uses that as an advantage.

“I guess.” Haechan harrumphs before looking away.

Before long, they’ve put on one of Taeyong’s movies, an animated film about a tiny robot that flies into space. They’ve effectively turned off the lights of the Bridge, and are all huddling on the couches while the starship’s main monitor is used as a screen. Taeyong isn’t sure if this is against Federation regulations, but if Yuta and Taeil are ok with it then he won’t worry.

It’s mid-movie though, when Taeyong’s whole stomach drops. He can feel a slight tremor start up from the middle of his core, it’s small but it’s also cold and chilling and all too familiar. And _please, this can’t be happening right now._ Not when Taeil is sitting beside him, smiling softly at the screen in front of him. Not when everyone else he’s come to like and befriend is around him, trusting him. He can feel his throat dry up and he knows he’s gonna need water— _anything_ , soon enough.

He stands up, abruptly, his head is spinning and he can feel beads of sweat start accumulating on his forehead. “I need to go to the restroom. Sorry.” he manages to say as soon as Taeil whips his head to look at him. He can feel everyone else’s stares on him too and all he can do is run out of the command bridge room before he starts suffocating.

He runs to his room in a rush, feeling his veins and eyes start burning. He wants to throw up but there’s nothing in his stomach, just a feeling of emptiness. He closes the door with a slam and that’s when a low growl comes out of his throat, painful and aching. He can feel his head start to throb and just falls to his knees instead. He should’ve know, he should’ve been prepared, Taeyong thinks to himself, sobs threatening to erupt.

He doesn’t know why he’s having this outburst of hunger now though, it hasn’t been that long since he last drank fresh blood. He can go for long periods of time without thirsting for it, definitely more than a few months. So why is it being triggered here? And in such awful manner?

Usually when he starts getting hungry he can go a week with feeling small symptoms before it gets serious, small warnings his body gives so he doesn’t let it go too far. So he doesn’t let it get to the awful state he’s currently in right now. Taeyong hasn’t felt this horrible pain in centuries, not since he was barely learning to control himself, to learn the tricks of a vampire, when he still refused to drink human blood.

He isn’t made for space, he manages to think, his hands grab onto his hair, face buried into his knees. How could he think he could survive here? Taeyong’s species isn’t natural, they’re just an sub-product of human life. He isn’t meant to be here, to see things, to discover.

He can feel his sight go dizzy. It’s incredible how an immortal being like him is being reduced to such a weak creature; he won’t die, he knows this. But if he goes long enough without a drop of blood he’ll go into deep sleep, a self-induced coma. Still, that’s better than the second option. He would rather pass out than to lose control and bite anyone in the ship. It’s not like he thinks it would help anyway. Their blood isn’t what he needs, what he needs is light years away from here, back on Earth.

There’s a knock on the door.

_No, please, please leave._

“Taeyong?” It’s Ten voice that calls out to him, voice etched with worry. “Are you ok? Taeyong?”

“I’m fine.” he croaks out, hoping his voice doesn’t betray him. “Just leave, please.”

He hears a few whispers through the door, but doesn’t understand what is being said. He hears steps run away from his door and Taeyong almost lets a sigh of relief before another voice calls out, making his blood run even colder.

“Lee Taeyong, please let me in.” he hears Taeil’s soft but firm voice tell him from the other side. Taeyong can feel every movement Taeil makes, how he kneels in front of the door trying to listen to Taeyong.

“Or at least tell me what’s going on?” he tries again and still Taeyong blames himself for causing Taeil to be this worried.

“Just don’t let anyone inside the room, Taeil. Please.”

“Why not? What’s wrong?”

Taeyong’s throat goes dry and his hands start to itch, it’s getting worse. He should tell him, he thinks, maybe that way Taeil will go away and keep everyone in a safe place.

“Taeyong?”

“I’m hungry.”

There’s silence for a few moments, Taeyong thinks either Taeil doesn’t understand or he has already left. But he knows this isn’t true, he can still feel the other’s aching presence right next to him, separated only by the door. Taeil is what’s probably worsening his symptoms, ironically.

“Let me in, Taeyong.”

Taeyong panics. “No! Just go away. I’ll pass out eventually. Leave me alone.”

“I’m gonna go in, you need me.” Taeil stresses out but his voice is still somehow collected. Why is he not running away, Taeyong is angry.

“Taeil, it isn’t safe,” he growls, “Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m gonna open the door.” Is all Taeil replies and Taeyong hates his stubborn mind.

He scurries to the corner of the room, next to his bed, and Taeyong is scared out of his wits. He’s scared he’s going to bite Taeil and hurt him, his state of mind isn't any good. His hunger for blood makes him hazy, volatile, unpredictable and he hates the fact Taeil is going to see how much of a demon he can be.

He listens as the master keys jingle before the door nudges and opens. As steps come forward and pause, Taeil looks for Taeyong’s figure throughout the stark black room. He must see him, for his lithe steps walk in his direction until they suddenly stop in front of Taeyong’s curled up self.

Taeyong can already feel his instincts go wild, he can already _smell_ Taeil’s blood and it’s making him ache even more. It smells of something familiar and delicious—human blood. But then there’s more something else, a new smell, more invigorating than the last, something that fills Taeyong’s nostrils and makes him see white. He’s not going to be able to hold himself for much longer, he curses Taeil.

Taeil kneels down to where he’s crouching, and even though it’s dark Taeyong can still see his faint luminescent silhouette and features. He can tell Taeil is smiling down at him and Taeyong wants to yowl in pain and anger. But before he can do anything, before he can throw himself onto Taeil, the other boy puts his hand on Taeyong’s forehead.

“Taeyong, it’s ok.”

It feels like a cool breeze, like Taeil’s cold palm is taking away a hellish fever with just a touch. Taeyong can feel it, like a little stream of cool water, of energy, starting within Taeil and flowing through his fingertips onto Taeyong. His muscles relax and all the pain feels like it’s evaporating from off his skin. It’s a weird sensation, something he vaguely remembers from another time. It feels like Taeil’s tangible essence is pouring into him and Taeyong can’t help but close his eyes and give in to the frosty touch.

“What are you doing, Taeil?”

“Getting Lee Taeyong back.” he murmurs, bringing himself closer to the vampire.

With a firm and steady grip, Taeil takes ahold of Taeyong’s head and brings his face, his lips, to Taeil’s own neck. Taeyong knows what he’s doing, he feels how purposeful Taeil’s movements are. And in any other occasion, maybe one where he weren't so weak, he’d tell him no, he’d refuse. But in this moment, just the slight contact of his lips against Taeil’s pulsating neck is enough to bring him to his knees. He can feel Taeil hold his breath as Taeyong opens his mouth and he has the fleeting thought of backing down and letting the other man go, but then Taeil gives him a reassuring squeeze and Taeyong bites down.

He hears Taeil’s quick hiss as Taeyong’s fangs penetrate the soft skin.

The bright liquid starts pouring out soon after, and Taeyong’s senses go ballistic when the first drop touches his tongue. He was right, there’s the ever present taste of human blood, but there’s also a tinge of something else, Luminarian blood. And the mix of it all—the mix of _Moon Taeil_ , is the best thing Taeyong’s ever tasted.

The pit of his stomach burns, lips still connected to Taeil as he drinks him. He opens his eyes and is yet aware of Taeil’s skin, ever glowing and soft, except this time all of his body flushes as he lets Taeyong bite him, emanating a growing light throughout the obscure room. A thin drop of blood drips out from his mouth, dribbling down Taeil’s neck onto his collarbone and all Taeyong can do is follow it along with his mouth before licking it off with a swipe. A moan escapes Taeil’s lips and that’s when it’s all over for Taeyong.

He lifts his head up to meet Taeil’s lavender eyes and is surprised when instead, he is met with two dilated, very brown eyes. “Taeil?” he asks, hot breath hovering in front of Taeil’s face.

He gets no answer, but a hand creeping up behind his scalp, gently gripping his hair, and Taeil’s face inching even closer to his own, his other hand slips down Taeyong’s waist, drawing him in.

When their lips meet for the first time, Taeil can taste his own blood inside his mouth; he can smell how Taeyong is incredibly close, a sweet scent of yes, blood, but there’s something else, something so intrinsically Taeyong that Taeil can’t help but want to inhale it all.

Taeyong can taste stardust, he can taste possibility, he can taste _space_. And dear god, so many years alive without Taeil’s lips on his own were no truly lived years.

It is then that Taeyong feels his muscles go weak, his body betrays him and then, all he sees is black.

☽

When Taeyong opens his eyes, he is met with a bright light that makes him wince.

He can tell by the scratchy bedsheets on top of him that this isn't his room. He opens his eyes again and tries adjusting to the light, slowly able to see the surrounding room. He’s never been here before, but judging by the ever familiar sound of the west wing engine, he knows he's still somewhere aboard the NCT.

A light blush creeps up his face as memories of Taeil and blood and a kiss flash through his mind. “Ugh.” he moans in embarrassment as he sits himself on the bed. He can still feel his muscles weak and his head throbs a little bit.

“You woke up!” a boy next to the single window in the room says, making Taeyong jump in surprise.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” he laughs, his eyes crinkle and his smile is soft. Taeyong doesn’t notice colored eyes or pointy ears. “Let me message Kun, he’ll want to check you out.”

_Kun?_

“Where am I?” he asks instead, “What happened?” He does have a fairly decent idea of what happened, the strenuous effort his body made after starving left him out cold as is usual.

“You’re in the medical wing,” he explains looking up from his TriVex and walking up next to Taeyong's bed. “I just know you passed out after going through a blood-deprivation state. Ten and Yuta called me as soon as it happened but by the time I got here Taeil had it under control and you were already passed out.”

Taeyong feels another flush of heat come up his neck and cheeks. Taeil. _Where’s Taeil?_

The other boy laughs again, cheeks squished. “Your blush is glowing. Must be Taeil’s blood.”

“Great.” Taeyong grumbles as the color intensifies even more, how does Taeil not find this inconvenient?

The door opens in a whim and Taeyong snaps his head to look at the newcomer. It’s a short boy in a dark blue uniform Taeyong doesn’t recognize.

“You’re awake.” he smiles in greeting, “I’m Qian Kun.”

“I’m Taeyong.” he replies shyly as Kun comes forward.

“I’m NCT’s Medical Official,” the other explains as he comes forward to the slick machine next to Taeyong, “I’ve been monitoring your heart rate and signals these past few days.”

“I’m—I’m amazed at your whole physiology, Taeyong.” Kun continues, slight giddy smile on his face, “Truth be told, I’ve never gotten the opportunity to study a human vampire species. Mind you, it’s the same basics as a human except everything is _so_ slow and decelerated and your blood flow—”

“Kun.” the other stranger stops him, “You’ll have time for that later. Just tell him he’s fine.”

Kun bashedly smiles before nodding and looking down at Taeyong., “You’re alright, Taeyong. You got your feeding pretty quickly thanks to Taeil, so that subsided all the starvation symptoms. You passed out and your body is still feeling pretty weak because of all the exertion and lack of blood the days prior, but you should be fine now that you’re awake. I’m assuming this has happened before?”

Taeyong nods, “Only once when I refused to drink blood. I usually feel the symptoms weeks before I get like that. But not this time. It came so suddenly and it wasn’t even time for it to happen. I don’t understand.”

Kun hums in understanding before pondering, “I’m pretty sure it must be something in the intergalactic environment that caused this. Your usually slow physiology must be going wack and confused at the faster than light space travel. I think you’ll have to start feeding more often but I’d still like to run some tests afterwards, if you let me that is.”

“It’s ok.” he says with a shrug, “I don’t mind.”

“And we brought you something.” the tall boy says enthusiastically lifting up a blue container that Taeyong hadn’t noticed, “Since you still need to feed for a few more days, Taeil and I made you some ice lollies.”

Taeyong raises an eyebrow in question.

“We had to improvise,” he says conversationally, “We would usually just buy the blood in a market or order it via interweb but we needed it quickly so Kun just pumped some blood out of us.”

“ _What?_ ” Taeyong coughs, choking on his own spit, “Pumped blood out of where? Lollipops out of what?”

“Blood ice lollies. Don’t worry, we mixed them with water and painkillers so it’s not like we used a lot.” he takes a few lollies out of the container. “The dark red ones are mine, the weird transparent ones are Taeil’s. I wonder if they’ll leave your tongue glow-in-the-dark, that’d be funny.”

Taeyong’s eyes narrow. “Wait. You—your blood. What are you—”

“Human! Try this one, I’m sure mine is better.” the other boy smiles as he hands Taeyong a red lolly. He takes it adamantly. “I’m Johnny Seo, NCT’s Tactical Officer. I’m from Earth, just like you.”

“Johnny?” the name is all-too familiar, “You’re Ten’s—” he stops. Enemy? Rival? _Arch-nemesis?_

“Boyfriend.” Johnny scratches the back of his neck with a smile.

Taeyong nods. It doesn't make sense, but then again, Ten never makes sense, he'd suppose his boyfriend wouldn't either.

“Try to eat at least one lolly every few hours,” Kun continues, “You should be all fine by tomorrow morning, maybe even tonight, your regeneration system is incredible.”

He nods as Johnny hands him the ice container. “I will, thank you. Do you know where Taeil…” he trails off.

Kun smiles at him as he and Johnny make their way to the door. “Taeil should be around. He’ll probably come by and check on you in a while, he was mad worried.”

The thought makes Taeyong’s stomach flutter. He doesn’t know what he wants to say to Taeil, he just knows he wants to see him.

With that thought in mind, he takes Johnny’s lolly and tastes it. It’s incredibly good, in the strangest of ways.

☽

 

Truth is, Taeil doesn't come by that whole day and Taeyong is starting to get a little grumpy.

He’s moodily licking on his fourth Taeil popsicle when Ten comes stomping by into the medical wing without warning.

“Kun said you were up,” he says as greeting, “And that you’re feeling better. Do you wanna come and get something to eat? Everyone else is there.”

To be honest, Taeyong has no desire for food or water or anything else that doesn’t involve sleeping, but he thinks that stretching his muscles for a little bit is long overdue. Plus, the possibility of seeing Taeil there is definitely too alluring.

He’s feeling so much better than what he did when he first woke up so he nods and puts on a pair of Girky slippers Mark had brought him earlier as a get-well-gift.

“You know,” Ten starts off, not looking at him, as they make their silent way towards the cafeteria, “We were really worried about you. We don’t know much about vampires and we were wondering if you were going to alright. Sorry for not being of much help.”

Taeyong stops their trek, holding on to Ten’s arm. “Thank you.” he says sincerely, “For worrying about me. And calling Johnny.”

“Well he has to be useful for something, doesn’t he?” he grumbles and drags Taeyong to the elevator. “At least his blood can feed you.”

“Johnny’s cute.” Taeyong tries, taking a quick glance at Ten. The other boy sighs.

“He’s tragically handsome, I know.” The elevator doors open. “We’re taking a break. Kind of. To be honest, I don’t know what's going on, but we haven't seen each other in two years.”

“You broke up?”

Ten winces, “Not really. Technically we're still dating. Don't worry about it, it's fine.”

To Taeyong’s surprise, the cafeteria seems a little fuller now, with more seats taken and new faces Taeyong hasn’t seen. The juniors are sitting in their usual table but Taeyong notes two young looking boys being surrounded (read: terrorized) by a loud Haechan and a questioning Renjun. Taeyong vaguely recalls their names being mentioned by Taeil: Chenle and Jisung.

“Taeyong!” Jaemin booms from the other side of the cafeteria. He can feel everyone turn to look at him and he wants to disappear. All of them probably know about the whole blood ordeal. “I made Spoggetti!”

As he walks up closes he can smell the wafting aroma of authentic tomato sauce and pasta. Jaemin never ceases to amaze him. “Taeil said you might like it so he asked me to make you some.” the youngster smiles. “I think it’s funny that the sauce looks like blood.”

“He just went through a crisis, you insensitive child.” Ten admonishes the young cook before ushering Taeyong out of the way.

“It’s ok, Jaemin.” Taeyong laughs, “I love Spoggetti, thank you.”

He sees Jaemin’s joyful grin before Ten leads him towards the tables. He sees Mark and Haechan at the juniors’ table and on the table next to them, there’s Yuta sitting with Johnny and two other men Taeyong does not recognize. The last one has Kun and three other people he’s never seen before. Much to his chagrin, there’s no sight of Taeil anywhere.  

If it were up to him, Taeyong thinks with an inner sigh, he’d sit with Mark and the rest of the juniors but it seems Ten has other plans and walks straight to Kun’s table, not even glancing at the other tables. Taeyong doesn’t miss the curious peek Johnny sends their way before he goes back to talking to Yuta.

“I see you’re doing better.” Kun smiles as Taeyong takes the seat next to him.

“I am,” he replies with a vigorous nod before taking a sip of his Earthling water. “My head even stopped aching. By tomorrow morning I should be perfectly fine, I think.”

“So you’re the vampire!” the tall man sitting next to Kun shouts. His hair is an ashy blonde and his eyes a deep red very much like Kun’s and Renjun’s own. “I’m Yukhei!” he extends his arm just across Kun’s face, who frowns comically. Even though he’s using the wrong arm, Taeyong can tell Yukhei is trying to greet like an Earth Human. He shakes his hand, appreciating the sentiment.

“So that’s Yukhei, our overgrown puppy, the starship’s helmsman.” Ten adds with a roll of eyes and Taeyong notices Ten’s Earth references once again. He now wonders if Johnny has anything to do with Ten’s knowledge of planet Earth.

“This is Sicheng,” he points to the man next to him, the familiar ashy hair and red eyes also present, “He’s part of the medical department along with Kun.”

Sicheng sends him a small wave and a half-smile before going back to eat what looks like orange pudding.

“I’m Commander of Exploration, Jung Jaehyun.” the last person at the table speaks up, blinding smile on his face. His hair is the color of dark honey and his eyes shine a warm shade of jade.

If Taeyong could get heart attacks, he’d be getting one right now. “H-hi.”

“Incredible.” Ten snorts before diving in and slurping his spaghetti. He says between munches, frown in face. “When will I meet a person that’s not completely enamored with Mr. Prince Jaehyun over here.”

“He’s not hard to find.” Jaehyun mutters before looking down at his plate, already sensing imminent trouble.

“Hey, doughface,” someone from Johnny’s and Yuta’s table calls out, “You left your smelly uniform in the the laundry pod, pick it up before I throw it off into space.”

“It’s not that difficult to pick it up yourself, but ok Doyoung.” Jaehyun rolls his eyes back. “As long as your nasty hands don’t touch my clothes, I’ll do it.”

Taeyong watches the exchange in curiosity and even more so, when no one bats an eyelash at the display.

“Doyoung, Jungwoo, come say hi to Taeyong.” Ten calls the boys eating with Yuta over.

Taeyong can feel Doyoung stare at him from afar, it’s an unnerving glare, but he tries his best to ignore it. A few seconds pass before Doyoung stands up and heads over and it is only until then that the second boy stands up, following him.

Doyoung is tall and skinny and while his eyes are a dark brown, his hair, in contrast, is a bright orange. He reminds Taeyong of the Girky they saw back at the Taizen pet shop. “So you’re Taeyong.”

“I am.” he tries his best to smile. It probably looks more like a grimace.

“Make sure you don’t stain my ship with blood, Buffy.” he sips from a small juicebox. “Or you’ll be scrubbing it clean on your knees if you must.”

“ _Buffy_ ,” Johnny repeats as him and Yuta make their way to the table too. “Is that what your vampire research consisted of?”

“It was a good show.” Doyoung waves his hands dismissively, “A win for your people.”

“Ok, well,” Johnny interferes with a sigh, “That’s Doyoung, our third captain,” he points to the second boy, “and this is Jungwoo.”

“Hello.” the other boy says sweetly, showing off a cute smile. Taeyong wants to squish his cheeks. “Since Captain Doyoung said it’s ok for you to have his room you shall live another day, Taeyong.” Maybe not. Taeyong shudders and moves a little closer to Kun.

“This guy,” Yukhei laughs, slapping his thigh, “Hilarious as always.”

“Laughing at his jokes won’t make him like you any more.” Taeyong can hear Sicheng mutter at Yukhei.

“I don’t think that was a joke.” Kun whispers back at them before eating the last remnants of his food.

Taeyong looks back at Doyoung, “I didn’t mean to take you room, I can move if you want, I hear there’s vacant rooms in floor two.”

“It’s ok,” he shrugs, “I think it was time for me to change rooms already. You can practically hear Jaehyun’s snoring through the _steel walls_.” he frowns at Jaehyun, “Not very princely of him if you ask me.”

“Good thing no one did.” Jaehyun retorts hotly. “You’re the only that complains, anyway. It must be your gigantic ears—”

“Well, I’m out of here,” Sicheng stands up as Doyoung and Jaehyun become background noise, “The pudding’s out and I don’t want to pop my ears listening to those two. ” He takes two more puddings from the table before leaving.

“Taeil likes pudding.” Taeyong pouts looking at his plate. “Have any of you seen him?”

Kun and Lucas shake their head. “I haven’t.” Kun adds, “But I’m sure he’s been busy with packing and all that stuff since we’re pretty close to landing on Zed Luminar.” He reasons, “No need to worry.”

“Right.” Taeyong nods to himself. It’s not like Taeil is avoiding him.

☽

 

It’s the third day since Taeyong last saw Taeil and he’s pretty sure the latter is avoiding him.

He was confused at first, why would Taeil be doing that? What did Taeyong do? But the more he’s thought about it, the more he’s convinced it has something to do with the kiss they shared right before he passed out. Or maybe the aggressive blood sucking. Maybe both.

Either way, Taeyong’s been in a blue mood since yesterday and it’s all because he knows he fucked up and now Taeil doesn't want to see him.

“Taeil, where are you?” he whines from where he’s sitting on one of the Bridge room’s sofas.

“Is he supposed to hear you from wherever it is he is?” Renjun asks as he monitors the console’s bleeps and blinks and other stuff Taeyong doesn’t understand.

“Maybe, he will.” the other frowns before sighing. “I just want to apologize to him, that’s all.”

Renjun turns to look back at him, scowl etched on his face, “Apologize for what?”

“I don’t know. For sucking his blood?” _Kissing him?_ Taeyong thinks although, of course, it goes unspoken.

“Listen, Taeil did that willingly. I don’t think you should apologize.” he rolls his eyes going back to his casual monitoring. “Just go look for him and ask him about it.”

“I’ve been _trying_ Renjun, this starship is just huge.”

“Try the second room floors.”

“I did.”

“The Port hardpoint? Starboard hardpoint?”

“Already checked those, twice.” Taeyong sighs now pacing around the console. “What if he’s gone? What if something happened to him? What if he accidentally opened one of the cargo bay doors and got sucked into space?”

“I can’t do this.” Renjuns laments, finally standing up and walking over to Taeyong, trying to grab the taller man’s shoulders. “Maybe you should go check the library.”

“I’ve checked there.”

“Yes, well. It’s pretty big and Taeil loves it there so check _again._ ”

Taeyong sighs one last time, visibly distressed. “You’re right, Renjun.”

With a mix of curiosity and newfound motivation, Taeyong sets once again to look for Taeil in the third floor, where the library, as well one of the kitchen levels, the laundrybot room and the cryogenic room are located. Sometimes he surprises himself with how good he’s become at navigating through the entirety of the NCT, he’s come to know it like the back of hands. It’s not like it was too hard to begin with, _hell_ , compared to walking through the districts of Tokyo, a starship isn’t too big.

He passes quickly through the open kitchen door, a floral and spicy scent coming from the stoves. It’s an unfamiliar aroma, but he’s learnt that it doesn’t matter, Jaemin’s food is the best.

Even from here he can already see the heavy metal doors to the library, a place that, he admits, Taeyong doesn’t visit much, but knows that Taeil does. Taeil loves reading, he knows that much, he loves reading books and scrolls and e-chips from all across the Quadrant and has been teaching himself how to read other languages so he can have even more books to read. It’s a cute trait that Taeyong likes about his peculiar friend. Maybe he’ll ask him to recommend him some books, he misses reading.

Before making his way to the entrance, however, he hears a voice coming from somewhere nearby.

“Mark, we can’t continue doing this.” Taeyong can hear a muffled voice coming from the cryogenic room, he stops dead in his tracks.

“We can, Jeno, I’m sure we can, please. This is the best thing that’s happened to me since graduating Fleet Academy.”

Mark and Jeno? What are they doing here? What are they talking about? Taeyong supposes he shouldn’t be eavesdropping and curiosity killed the cat but—

“You know Haechan’s going to find out sooner or later, right? We can’t keep this a secret forever and I don’t think he’ll like this.”

“What Haechan doesn’t know won’t kill him, alright?” Mark continues, “I’ll tell him. Eventually.”

“What?” Taeyong, confused, whispers to himself. He should leave now.

Before he can do so, a strange high pitched cry comes from inside the cryogenic room. There’s silence for a few seconds, no words from Mark and Jeno.

“Hello?” Mark calls, “Is someone there?”

Taeyong thinks this is his cue to leave, but before he can even take one step backwards, a blur of white fur comes running towards him, jumping high in the air and softly landing on top of his head.

“What the hell?” he panics for a few seconds feeling the almost imperceptible weight on him. Whatever it is, it doesn’t move an inch and suddenly, a soft vibration can be felt coming off from the jumping fluff.

Mark and Jeno abruptly come of out the room, twin expressions of alarm on their faces.

“Taeyong?” Jeno says as he sees the unmoving man in front of him. Taeyong is froze in his spot, not daring to move the creature on top of him.

“What is this? Can you remove it, I’m scared.” he says as greeting.

“Voffif!” Mark exclaims as he runs towards Taeyong, effectively getting ahold of the fluffball and swiftly taking it off Taeyong. “You can’t just do this to people, they’ll get scared.” He looks up at Taeyong, “I think he likes you.”

Taeyong takes a better look at the thing in Mark’s arms. It seems to be some sort of animal full of white, snow-like fur, two small triangular ears and a long, twisting tail that ends almost near the floor.  “Is that a cat?”

“It’s a mooncat.” Jeno supplies, “A very prohibited mooncat that’s not supposed to be onboard.”

Mark pouts, “It’s the mooncat that I wanted to save back when Haechan and I almost crashed against the NCT. I might’ve smuggled it in that day without anyone noticing.” he winces.

“It’s cute.” Jeno smiles. “I love mooncats so we’ve been keeping Voffif in the cryogenic room since they enjoy low temperatures. But Mark’s been _feeding it too much_.”

“Can you not mention it, Taeyong?” Mark winces, voice hopeful, “We’re scared they’re gonna kick him out if someone finds out. But I love him.” he buries his face on the mooncat’s fur, who then meows and licks Mark’s nose. Maybe Taeyong wants to melt at the cuteness.

“It’s ok,” Taeyong gives a reassuring smile before scratching Voffif’s ear who purrs again. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise, guys.”

They let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you Taeyong, we owe you one.”

“And you can come check out Voffif whenever you want to.” Jeno adds, “You’re an honorary member of the mooncat club now.”

Taeyong laughs, “Thank you, I’ll bring him some food whenever I can.” he scratches his neck, “Hey, I know I’ve asked you this before but have you seen Taeil today?”

Both boys shake their head before Mark says, “It’s weird, I only saw him once a couple days ago when he went to pick up pudding from Jaemin before everyone else arrived.” he looks at Taeyong, “I’m sure he’s been busy.”

Taeyong sighs. “It’s ok, I’ll just go check on the library. See you later guys. Bye Voffif.” The mooncat yawns.

“Good luck, Taeyong.” Jeno smiles sympathetically before the pair go back into the cryogenic room, Voffif in tow.

Taeyong finally walks the few feet to the library and sighs, he doesn’t expect much, if Taeil doesn’t want to be found, then he sure as hell won’t be hiding in such an obvious place but he might as well try.

The library is a pretty big room taking into account they’re aboard an aircraft, but Taeyong supposes it makes sense considering Taeil’s affinity to books and if the rumours of Doyoung being a giant book nerd are true; a ship will of course mirror its captain's personality.

However, out of all the times Taeyong’s been in the library, he’s only ever seen Taeil use it, no one else. He can’t say he’s not disappointed when he sees the latter isn’t there. The few scattered tables are empty and there seems to be no one amongst the giant metallic bookshelves.

He walks towards a nearby shelf, sulkily eyeing the books there. _History of the Xansoon race_. _Xansoon Folklore and Myths_. _Xansoon Royal Chronology and Times._

“I don’t even know what a Xansoon is.” Taeyong sighs before taking his eyes away from the shelf, face still visibly disappointed.

“Commander Jaehyun’s a Xansoon.” a voice surprises Taeyong, making him flinch. He turns around in surprise only to find Dong Sicheng sitting on the floor at the end of the narrow hallway surrounded by books and empty pudding containers.

“Hi, Sicheng.” Taeyong waves lamely. He hasn’t really talked much with the other boy, he supposes their paths don’t cross too often.

“Did Renjun tell you I was here?” Sicheng asks, eating another dollop of blue pudding.

“Renjun? Not exactly.” Taeyong says walking up to him. “Why?”

Sicheng sighs, strands of silver hair covering most of his eyesight, “I haven’t slept properly for the past few days, I’m tired.”

Taeyong’s confused but the other continues, “You’re miserable, he’s miserable. Most importantly, _I’m_ miserable, so here, take this.” Sicheng takes something from his jacket’s pocket and tosses it at Taeyong who catches it at the last second.

“What’s this?” Taeyong eyes the small card in his hands, “Your passkey?”

“Taeil’s been eating all my pudding,” Sicheng sniffs, “And he sleepwalks. I’ve been having to spend most of my time here in the library.”

“So Taeil’s been in your room all this time?” Taeyong looks at the passkey, frowning, “I suppose he told you not to tell me?”

Sicheng nods, “Please get him out of there before dinner.”

Taeyong feels a grin on his face, “Thank you, Sicheng! I’ll buy you some pudding, I swear.”

Sicheng’s eyes brighten for a moment, a growing shy smile adorning his face. “Good luck, Taeyong.”

Taeyong now feels a friendship bond with Sicheng. He rejoices.

With one last goodbye wave, Taeyong, now full of purpose, walks out of the library and to the second floor rooms, where he knows Sicheng’s room is, just right next to Renjun’s.

He’s too focused thinking of what he really wants to say to Taeil, what he wants him to know, in fact, he’s too focused, Taeyong doesn't notice the laundrybot room’s door open in a whim. If it hadn't been for his naturally quick reflects, he’d be hit square in the face.

Luckily only his nose got a slight hit and, as he rubs it to subside the pain, he sees Jaehyun, wide-eyed and surprised to see him, walk out of the laundrybot room.

Neither say anything for a moment and Taeyong notices his disarrayed hair. He hasn't known the Commander of Exploration for too long, but every time he’s seen him he’s too pristine, too well-dressed. Now, not only his hair’s a mess, but his jacket is wrinkled and the collar’s out of place. His nose and cheeks are a light pink tone and his lips are red, bitten.

“Taeyong?” he asks, green eyes hazy.

“What?” someone says from behind him, just getting out of the laundrybot room as well. “What did you say?”

Taeyong knows that voice. Sure enough, just behind Jaehyun, Kim Doyoung peeks his head out to look at Taeyong.

Taeyong raises an eyebrow at Doyoung’s raw lips and similar state of clothes as Jaehyun’s. They were probably _not_ hiding a mooncat in there and he's not going to ask.

Doyoung coughs, his face becoming uncontrollably red. Jaehyun looks on dumbly.

“I’m kind of in a hurry,” Taeyong tries to ease them—or Doyoung, at least, “So I’ll just assume Jaehyun accidentally left his laundry in a pod again.”

Jaehyun guffaws for a second before sobering, taking a quick glance at Doyoung, who looks half annoyed, half embarrassed. He opens his mouth before closing it again. “Listen, Taeyong—” he frowns but doesn’t finish the sentence.

“Yeah?”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, regaining composure. “Nothing. If you see Jungwoo just tell him I won’t be able to go to his snoga class today.”

“Yukhei is gonna be there anyway.” Jaehyun snickers before Doyoung slaps him on the shoulder.

“Well,” Taeyong starts, “I’m just gonna leave now. See you later. Have fun.”

He swiftly walks away from the pair; before turning the corner, he can distinctly hear Doyoung hiss _this is your fault_ at Jaehyun.

Before he can delve more into it, Taeyong steps into the elevator, Sicheng’s passcode in his pocket. He wonders what Taeil is going to say, if he even wants to speak to Taeyong, that is. If he were Taeil, he wouldn’t forgive him, why would he be ok with someone just sucking the blood out of them? It’s creepy and gross and that’s still not mentioning the fact that they kissed afterwards and it tasted like blood. Taeyong makes himself smaller,  _how embarrassing_.  

If anything, he’s just been dying to talk to Taeil because he wants apologize and ask him to forget it ever happened, to go back to normal before Taeil started ignoring him so blatantly.

He arrives to the second floor dorms. Honestly, they aren’t half as bad as Jaemin, Renjun and Haechan make them out to be, they’re a tad smaller, yes, but the few times he’s visited, Taeyong’s been fond of the cozy and warm rooms. With nervous strides, he quickly passes through Mark’s and Haechan’s rooms, smells the scent of melted candy wafting from Renjun’s, and hears some terrible metal music coming from Jisung’s. Soon, he’s standing just in front of Sicheng’s, the last room of the corridor, and for a brief second he thinks about just barging in.

With a last sigh, Taeyong knocks on the door twice. There’s a few shuffling sounds inside the room before it turns silent. Maybe he should use the passcode, even if he doesn't want to.

He tries instead. “Taeil?” he calls out in a soft voice, “I know you’re in there.”

Now Taeil knows he’s here, if he doesn’t open, he’ll let him be. It’s weird, he thinks, how just a couple of days ago their roles were reversed.

“Taeil?” he tries again.

“I’m coming.” Taeil’s muffled voice finally replies back. Taeyong’s hands itch in nervousness, it’s ok, Taeyong, _it’s fine_.

The door opens slowly, soon revealing a small, tired looking Taeil.

“Taeyong.” he gives him a small smile that makes Taeyong’s heart beat faster, like a human’s. “Hi.”

Taeyong clears his throat. “Can I...come in?”

“This is Sicheng’s room.” Taeil tries.

“I know, I have his passcode.” Taeyong shows off the small card between his fingers with a small smile and an apologetic furrow of eyebrows.

Taeil bites his lip once before nodding and opening the door, finally letting the other come in.

The room is fairly clean, Taeyong notes, probably the cleanest he’s seen just after his. But then he notes the small corner on the right side of the room and he wants to laugh a little, it’s obviously where Taeil’s been staying. It’s a small burgundy couch surrounded by plates with eaten cake frosting and pudding containers, not unlike Sicheng’s own back at the library. There’s a beat of silence.

“You’ve been avoiding me, Taeil.” Taeyong simply says.

Taeil picks up one of the empty containers and swipes some leftovers with his finger before eating it with a sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok.” Taeyong purses his lips, “I just wanna know why.”

Taeil looks down at a plushie next to him that Taeyong recognizes as Taeil’s own, it’s a small yellow mouse with red cheeks. “I thought you might already know?”

Taeyong stays silent for a few moments before replying. “Is it because of the kiss?”

Taeil looks up for a brief second, their eyes meeting before he casts his sight away. “Yes.” he says and Taeyong’s heart crushes a little bit. He shouldn’t have kissed Taeil, he knows. Because he’d rather have Taeil with him as a friend than have him avoid Taeyong all the time.

It was a moment of irrationality brought by his blood-thirst impulse. At least that’s what he’ll tell Taeil; Taeyong would rather have a meteorite crash into the starship than tell Taeil he’s half in love with him.

“Then I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.” he voices, “And I’m also sorry for drinking your blood.” He can feel his ears flush and he’s annoyed at the fact his blushes are the most visible right after feeding.

He isn’t looking at Taeil but soon enough, he can hear Taeil’s socked feet against the wooden floor quickly coming his way. He looks up only to find a scowling Taeil right in front of him.

“Taeyong,” he stammers indignantly, standing just across the other boy, violet eyes fierce in a way Taeyong had never seen before. “I gave you my blood because I wanted to. And I let you kiss me because _I wanted you to._ ”

The words try to resonate with Taeyong, trying to make sense of what the other is saying. Taeil wanted it. Taeil who’s all lovely and nice and interesting, who’s standing right in front of him just like last time and Taeyong’s starting to get a little dizzy at the sudden burst of thoughts and emotions whirring through him.

“Then what’s going on?” he manages to ask.

Taeil sighs. “Sometimes I’m surprised at how dumb you can be. What good is it that you’ve lived for so long if you can’t even tell when someone likes you?”

“How can I know if you’ve been avoiding me.” he asks, flabbergasted.

Taeil looks away, frown on his face. “It’s not like I’ve started liking you just now.”

“Well—” Taeyong is speechless for a second before challenging, “Then you should know I like you too!”

“I do know!” Taeil exclaims with a jump. “You keep staring at me and giving me your cake all the time. Yuta even thought it was a weird human wooing tradition and we had to look it up on Smoogle.”

“Well don’t you like cake?” Taeyong shrieks, “Was that you saying yes to me?”

“I do like cake, so I’d accept it even if I didn’t like you.” the shorter man grumbles, “But I do like you, Lee Taeyong and everytime I’m amazed at how…” he trails off, looking away.

“At what?” Taeyong frowns before Taeil looks up again, eyes focused.

“At how beautiful you are.” he finishes, eyes on Taeyong’s face.

Now the sudden, hot rush of blood comes up stronger than ever and Taeyong’s face is a comic mix between a red tomato and a glowing firefly. “Don’t say that!” he tries covering his face. “Why would you say that?”

Taeil laughs brightly and amused at the boy in front of him. “Because it’s true!” he tries prying Taeyong’s hands away from his face but the other doesn’t relent. “You know how many pictures I took of you while we were in the sakura road back in Tokyo?”

“Probably a lot, you weirdo!” Taeyong squirms, finally letting Taeil take his hands off his face. Taeil’s hands stay there, however, smushing Taeyong’s still warm cheeks together.

The tension is palpable for moment, Taeyong looks down at Taeil and his heart is just a little (read: a whole lot) fuller than what it did this morning. “I’m going to kiss you now, Lee Taeyong.” Taeil whispers as he comes close to his face and Taeyong can see his pink, slightly cracked lips in wonder. “And I don’t want anyone to apologize for it.”

“And it won’t taste like blood this time.”

Taeil smiles before closing the gap with his lips, the taste is nice and sweet, like the pudding Taeil loves so much. Taeyong’s damp palms slide against Taeil’s back just like last time, the tips of his fingers softly hovering over.

Taeyong breaks the kiss away with a happy sigh before closing his eyes. “Taeil.”

“Yeah?” Taeil murmurs as he rests his forehead on the crook of Taeyong’s neck.

The vampire sighs, still not opening his eyes. “You’re going back on duty again, aren’t you?”

Taeil stills for a moment, silence between them.

“That’s why Yuta has been picking everyone up, gathering you.” he continues decisively, “You’re all getting ready to start Exploration again.”

He can feel the soft squeeze of Taeil’s fingers around him before the other breaks away. He looks at Taeyong with a sad smile before sitting down on the floor. Taeyong follows suit.

“Truth is, that’s why I was avoiding you.” Taeil sighs, tangling his fingers with Taeyong’s own, not looking at him.

“Hm? What do you mean?” Taeyong questions thinly.

“I like you a lot, that’s established. But when we were kissing that day...all I could think of was how much I wanted to stay with you, Taeyong. How much I liked being with you and how much I still wanted to learn about you.”

“But we’re landing in ZedLu in just a few days.” he continues, “And after that I get to stay there for a few weeks before the NCT picks me up again, this time as Captain on duty. Do you know what that means?”

“You’re gonna wear a uniform?” Taeyong jokes before Taeil nudges him.

He lets out an exhale, “It’s at least five years on board. Five whole years. I’ve been avoiding you so I can stop myself from asking you to stay with me and the crew. I don’t want to be selfish, you have a whole life back on Earth.”

“You’d let me stay in your ship?” is all Taeyong asks.

Taeil furrows his eyebrows, “I’d let you stay here, but I’d also let you go back. I understand that some people don’t want to live their life stuck in a floating ship.”

“Taeil,” Taeyong suddenly laughs, scaring the other boy in the process, “I would rather spend one hundred years stuck in this stupid starship and get to visit all these planets with you and everyone else, than spend one more day with my dead plants back on Earth.”

“What?” Taeil is wide-eyed, growing grin on his face. “Are you sure? Didn’t you complain about three months on board before even stepping on the ship?”

Taeyong rolls his eyes, pulling Taeil towards him, “Maybe that was before I tasted—”

“—my blood.”

“—Jaemin’s food.”

“Are you ever going to let that go?” Taeyong hisses with no bite, playfully showing off his fangs.

“Johnny said you enjoyed the popsicles.” Taeil smirks once before laughing again.

“Yeah, maybe I enjoyed Johnny’s blood a little too much.”

“What does that mean?” Taeil squeaks, tugging at the the end of his orange turtleneck. “Are you saying you like Johnny?”

“I’d try, but I think Ten’s the jealous type.” Taeyong shrugs, “Besides, Johnny doesn’t let me kiss him.” he says before surging forwards for another kiss. Taeil kisses back immediately, quickly relaxing as he holds on to Taeyong. He bites his bottom lip before nudging and dragging his tongue between Taeil’s lips and suddenly, their bodies buzz with delighted ecstasy.

Taeil grins into the kiss, “Is it weird to say that... I can taste— _time_ , when I kiss you?”

Maybe it is a little weird, Taeyong thinks, but he understands. Because everytime he kisses Moon Taeil, he can feel galactic space in between their lips.

And after all, space and time is all anyone ever needs.

☾

That night he dreams of burning, colliding stars.

He dreams of Jaemin’s alien food, of Jeno’s mooncat, of Renjun’s tendency to boss the captains around. He dreams of Mark’s laugh and Haechan’s bright personality; of all the board games they love to play and all the trouble they get into. Of Jisung and Chenle and the future in the ship that still awaits them.

He dreams of Sicheng’s puddings and clean room, of Yukhei’s loud voice and Jungwoo’s snoga class. Of Kun’s monitors and giddy smiles when he’s researching something in the Medical wing.

He dreams of Yuta’s beaming smile, of his welcoming hugs. Of Ten’s silly jokes and dance moves, of the way he looks at Johnny when he thinks no one is looking. That night he dreams of Johnny’s cheerful smile, of his kindness, of the way it makes him feel to have another human onboard. Of Jaehyun’s and Doyoung’s arguments and fights and all the laundry they have left to do.

He doesn’t need to be back on Earth, not when the NCT is waiting for him.

Most of all, he dreams of Taeil’s luminescent skin against his own, of his small fingers that peek out from a too long sweater, trying to intertwine them with Taeyong’s own; of the way his violet eyes stare him down with a soft smile and the way he takes pictures of everywhere he goes, still in wonder after all this time. He dreams of Taeil and all the timeless years he’s going to spend with him. He doesn’t need a sun.

Taeyong opens his eyes and all he sees is a glowing, infinte universe.

☾

**Author's Note:**

> fun facts:
> 
> \- i am planning a spinoff story for tenny and dojae. they originally had small arcs of their own but i had to cut them off due to word count, rip. also, their backstory is kinda long so i want to explain it properly when i get the chance.  
> \- yeah, taeil's boner glows in the dark  
> \- jaehyun is actually a prince, it's not a just nickname  
> \- taeyong's from 1995, he was a dancer until he got bitten when he was 24 (⌣_⌣”)  
> \- mark's dad is a pretty important political figure in his home planet and a promoter of war against haechan's own home planet  
> \- haechan, mark, renjun, jaemin, and jeno all attended fleet school together. jaehyun, doyoung, taeil and yuta did as well.
> 
> thank you for reading! comments and kudos are appreciated! ya'll can hit me up on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ten_taeil) too!


End file.
